Klatt, Hemenway Carry American Hopes into SCG Clash

Roughly a half century ago, several astronauts walked on the moon and called it “a giant leap for mankind.”

Sydney, Australia, may as well be as far away as the moon.  And the surface of the Sydney Cricket Ground may very well be as hallowed and non-descript as that as our closest satellite rock.

And yet, when Kim Hemenway and Katie Klatt step onto the pitch this Friday night (US time), they will be making a leap of their own.  Not just for American Aussie Rules, but for all of women’s sports.

Facing each other in the AFL’s women’s exhibition series match this weekend at the SCG, they are two of 44 women selected from the AFL’s Sydney Academy to take part.  Klatt will play for the GWS Giants, while Hemenway will suit up for the Sydney Swans.

The game will be played as a curtain raiser to the Sydney Derby season match. It will also be one of two such matches, with West Coast playing Fremantle later in the day.  Both women arrived in Australia this week, with minor difficulties caused by Cyclone Zena cutting through the Pacific.  The weather wasn't enough to put a damper on the excitement that lay ahead.

“I'm excited to play in the game,” Hemenway told USAFL.com.  “I can't complain about my first game of the season being at the SCG.   I’m more worried about letting everyone down if I don't play well, but that will fade once the game starts and I get into it.”

GAME DETAILS:
Sydney Swans vs GWS Giants - AFL Women's Series
WHERE: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia
WHEN: Friday, April 8th -- 11:30pm USEDT / 8:30pm USPDT
HOW TO WATCH: Click Here to Watch Live on AFL.com.au
ONLINE COMMENTARY: twitter.com/USAFL1997 (@USAFL1997)

This weekend’s encounter at the SCG will be the second time they have faced each other head-to-head.  Klatt’s Sacramento Suns and Hemenway’s New York Magpies met at the USAFL National Championships last year Kim’s Magpies’ coming out 15-3 winners in the lightning format match.  Klatt and her teammates stood firm against a surging New York attack, but the ‘Pies were too strong on the day.

The two are quite familiar with each other, despite only being in the league together for two seasons.   Both have played as teammates on the USA Freedom women’s national team, both taking the field this past summer in Fort Lauderdale in a losing effort to Canada.  Both players were among the best on ground for the Freedom, however; Hemenway contested many balls in the forward half and kicked a first quarter goal, while Klatt’s acceleration prevented several chances from the talented Canadian forwards.

It’s been a different path to finding footy for both women; Klatt, a field hockey player in college, moved to Sacramento to begin work as a Pediatric ER nurse in 2013, and found the sport online.  Hemenway, originally from the L.A. area, was living in North Carolina when she found an ad for the local team on Craiglist in 2008.  She started playing for New York that summer and has remained with the Magpies despite moving back to southern California.

The road to this point has been long, and there is still much ahead should they perform well in the match.  Both players took part in the AFL Sydney talent search back in February and were among the top performers at the combine.  They were invited to the AFL New South Wales academy, which will help prepare players for possible selection in the AFL Women’s competition, which kicks off in February, 2017. 

There is more at stake than just a win on the day for the two teams, however.  The best players from the Giants-Swans game this weekend will represent New South Wales in a June 5th match against the best players from South Australia at the Adelaide Oval.

“This will be a hotly contested match that will highlight the incredible talent on offer at a non-traditional AFL state,” says GirlsPlayFooty.com’s Kristy Williams.  “With [the Adelaide match], and draft spots up for grabs following, there is so much to play for.”

The Swans will have two versatile forward players up front to compliment Hemenway; Sydney University’s Steph Walker and UNSW’s Bec Beason.  “Walker has an innate goal sense and speed to burn,” says Williams.  “She is the whole package and if she can string together her efforts across four quarters she could have a decisive impact on the outcome.”  Walker’s University teammate, Nicola Barr was last year’s AFL Sydney Rising Star, whom Williams describes as “is a real livewire with an elite capacity for run and carry.”

Lining up alongside Klatt for the Giants will be a mix of veterans and newcomers, including Canberran goalsneak Karina Demant, AFL Sydney Best and Fairest Amada Farrugia, and Riverina’s Jodie Hicks.  Hicks was an emergency for Melbourne in the women’s series last year, and Williams see this as a chance for her to excel at the top level: “Leave her open at your peril.”  Demant will look to give the Swans fits, with Williams saying that she “has been performing at the national level for years [and] is often two plays ahead of the rest on the field.”

For the two Americans, however, this game is yet another forging forward in the growth of the American women’s footballing movement.  The February combine was a foot in the door.  The game is merely an introduction to the future.  Not just for Kim and Katie, but to any American woman who wants to take their talents beyond the borders of America.

“It would truly be an amazing experience to be able to come play footy here at any level,” Klatt said in her blog following the combine in February.  “I would be thrilled to do it. I'm willing to work hard because I love this game.”

What happens in the future is still to be seen, and the story will be played out long after the fans have filed out of the historic old cricket stadium in the Harbor city.  But whatever happens, it will be memorable not just for the two women living the impossible dream, but for the one watching here in the U.S. who share that dream.

And maybe one day they’ll get to live it too.

You can read Kristy William's preview of the match for Girls Play Footy right here.  For more information about the USAFL women's program, email Drea Casillas at andrea.casillas@usafl.com.