Hemenway Looks to Lead the Way in Sydney

Kim Hemenway generally likes to grab life by the ball.

First it was soccer, then it was basketball, and eventually footy.  She continuously has challenged herself in sport, and in life, and for the most part has been very successful.

Last season, she led her New York Magpies to its best season in their history, and was arguably the best player in the league.  In seven seasons since discovering the sport on Craiglist, of all places, she has become one of the most well-rounded Aussie Rules players this country has seen.

Next weekend, she will put all of what she has learned to the test at the AFL women’s talent search in Sydney, as one of over 100 athletes vying for a spot in one of the AFL’s state level academies.  She will be taking part in the combine alongside her USA Freedom national team teammate Katie Klatt, as both try to get noticed by scouts ahead of the scheduled launch of the women’s professional league next season.

This is a chance that seems tailor made for the 31-year-old native of Torrance, California.  In addition to soccer and basketball, Kim competed in track and field in school, and also took part in tae kwon-do and MMA.  Her athletic interests remained in good stead while in the US Navy; she was the goalkeeper on the US Naval Olympic team, and played semi-professionally on a men’s team in Japan.

It was through the Navy that she discovered Australian football.

“We were in Australia,” she told USAFL.com, “and one of the other guys on my ship had to go a footy game with an Australian family as a PR thing.  They had box seats at the ‘Gabba in Brisbane for Lions games.  So I went to the game and the family explained to us the rules.  I still didn’t understand what was going on by the end of the game, but I had a good time.”

After returning stateside, Hemenway was living in North Carolina and was going through Craigslist at work when she saw an ad for the North Carolina Tigers.  “That’s that weird thing I saw in Australia!” she thought.  She was intrigued enough to reach out to the club.  The Tigers didn’t have any other women playing for them at the time, but they readily welcomed her.

“When I was in the Navy, I was on a men’s semi-pro team for soccer and I was the only girl.  And I was the only girl on the ship’s team, so if figured that if I was the only girl on the team then, I would be okay here.  I went to my first practice and just kind of kept going.”

Her years in between the posts as a soccer goalie helped develop a powerful kick.  She had to train herself to kick “the footy way” when she first started playing.  She also had to adjust the method in which she caught the ball.

“Being a goalie, every time you catch a ball you want to dive for it and not land on your feet because you’re diving to get it, and when I practiced with the Tigers, I remember very specifically them kicking balls at me and not letting me dive to the ground.  I had to move my feet and shuffle faster to get to the ball while still on my feet.

“It was helpful, but it was a big transition because what you think is similar isn’t quite so.”

In her rookie season of 2009, Hemenway was approached by New York captains Drea Casillas and Christina Licata to play for the Magpies at that year’s National Championships in Ohio.  She has remained with New York, even though she now lives back home in the Los Angeles area where she is a respiratory therapist.  She flies to the east coast to play for the ‘Pies while training with the LA Dragons men’s team.

After traveling to Melbourne to compete in the 2014 International Cup and experiencing the gathering momentum of the women’s game over there, Kim decided that she wanted to play in Australia with the hopes of eventually turning pro come 2017.

“My initial plan a few months ago was to move to Australia and play a season there and then try to make it into the draft,” she explained.  “It turned out that getting a visa was more difficult than I thought it was going to be.  The cost of going over there and not having a job was too much, so I kind of gave up and assumed that it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Hemenway stated that when the talent search was announced, she didn’t pay much attention to it.  That is until Klatt announced her intention to go.

“I thought, ‘I really want to go; it could be a step towards me playing over there.  I would’ve wanted to go even if the talent search wasn’t happening.  Two months ago doing something like this wasn’t even an option.  Now that the options there, I thought I should do it. ” 

The only thing holding her back, though, was the cost of the plane ticket to Sydney.  Her friend Irene, having followed Kim’s success in the USAFL and having become a patron of Aussie Rules because of her, covered the cost of the ticket. The only payment required in return?  A Kim Hemenway AFL Women’s jumper.

“If anybody’s going to succeed at this, it’s going to be you,” Irene told her.

And with that, America’s second talent search candidate was ready to go.  Hemenway’s track background should have her well acclimated for the athletic portion of the combine.  And, unlike many of the women that she’ll be up against, Hemenway has nearly a decade competitive football experience.  What’s more, she has played all over the field, meaning she has a well-rounded skillset.

While she contends that she still needs to work on her kick accuracy and technique, you wouldn’t know it by watching some of her games in 2015.  She earned best on ground honors at the Central Regional tournament, was among the best on ground for the Freedom at the 49th Parallel Cup, and kicked two of the best goals in league play in wins over Boston and San Francisco.

“I know that it’s going to be fun and I’m going to have a good time.  Maybe not in the beep test, though,” she joked.  “We’ll get to go and do skills and be on a real footy oval again.  That in itself makes the trip worth it.”

Doing well at the combine wouldn’t just satisfy a personal goal, though.  For Hemenway, both she and Klatt taking part in such a high profile event is a way for footy followers in Australia to see the American women’s program as a serious endeavor with players who can contribute.

“Playing footy in the US gives us a huge advantage because I think the AFL disregards how much talent we have over here,” Hemenway said.  “During the last International Cup, a number of locals in Melbourne that went to our games told me that they were shocked that we were playing at a higher level than they expected.”

Having Klatt take part in the talent search with her is very motivating to Hemenway; not because she sees her as a rival, but rather because together they represent the hope of any American woman who decides to take this step and immerse themselves in the Australian footy pipeline.

“It’s a good thing because part of this competition is showing that there is potential elsewhere, and having two people from America instead of just one we now get to represent our country; they need to be looking over here, too.  I see us as representing our country instead of individually and that’s helpful on multiple fronts. 

“It’s motivating because we play on the Freedom together but we play on different teams locally, so I get to see her both as a teammate and as competition which is what we have to do over here anyway.  Your competition gets pushed aside when you’re teammates. We’re both trying to achieve the same goal in a place where they may be second guessing us.”

Besides not having grown up with footy, another thing that scouts might hold against her is her age.  Hemenway will be one of the oldest participants in Syndey.  Clubs looking at players on a long term basis may see that as a deterrent from taking her in the draft.

But Kim Hemenway has always done what she has wanted to do, and has the confidence to back it up.  At the end of the day, she is a footy player, no different from any other, aside from the fact that she is a darn good one to boot.  To her, that’s all that matters. 

“I’m sure I have a couple of things going against me on paper, but as soon as the test starts, you’re not a 31-year-old American, you’re an athlete, and I think that’s what’s important.  Being older has never stopped me from competing before, and I’d like to think that physically I don’t see anything wrong with it if I’m still performing where I want to be.  Mentally, I’m more mature and that makes it easier to handle the pressure.  I’ve handled a lot of pressure overall in life and in sports and that will help me get through this.”

“I like to prove people wrong.”

Follow Kim's journey to Australia on her blog, "Between the Posts."  Read her first post here.

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