Alicia Eva


Alicia Eva is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the AFL Women's. She previously played for the Collingwood Football Club in 2017. Eva was selected in the AFL Women's All-Australian team and won the Gabrielle Trainor Medal in her first season at the Giants in 2018. She has served as Greater Western Sydney captain since the 2020 season.

Early life

Eva grew up supporting, and her favourite player was their former captain David Neitz. Eva was forced to stop playing local football at the age of thirteen – not allowed to play with the boys from that age, and being the only girl in the team – and instead took up coaching. Eva played state league football with in the VFL Women's.

AFL Women's career

Collingwood (2017)

Eva was drafted by with the club's seventh selection, fifty-fourth overall, in the 2016 AFL Women's draft. She was appointed vice-captain at Collingwood in late January 2017. Eva made her debut in round 1, 2017, in the league's inaugural match at IKON Park against. She played in all seven of Collingwood's matches that season, kicking three goals and leading the club in both total and average disposals. At season's end she placed second in the club's best and fairest award. Eva was named in the All-Australian squad of 40 players, but did not make the final team.

Greater Western Sydney (2018–present)

In the May trading and signing period, Eva was traded to as part of a three-way trade involving the. Following her first season with the Giants, in which she played all seven games and ranked second in the competition for average kicks and third for tackles, Eva was selected on the wing in the 2018 AFL Women's All-Australian team and won the Gabrielle Trainor Medal as the Giants' best-and-fairest ahead of 2018 AFLW Players' Most Valuable Player Courtney Gum.
In November 2019, after inaugural Greater Western Sydney captain Amanda Farrugia announced her sudden retirement, Eva was announced as the club's new captain. Eva missed an AFLW match for the first time in 2020, missing rounds 5 and 6 with a foot injury, before returning to play in Greater Western Sydney's semi-final loss against.

Statistics

! colspan=3 | Career
! 26
! 6
! 5
! 301
! 95
! 396
! 51
! 139
! 0.2
! 0.2
! 11.6
! 3.7
! 15.2
! 2.0
! 5.3
! 13

Coaching career

Eva coached the Calder Cannons in the TAC Cup Girls competition in 2017, winning the competition's inaugural premiership, and led the NSW/ACT Youth Girls and Eastern Allies teams in the 2018 AFL Women's Under 18 Championships. She has served as a development coach of 's North East Australian Football League team since 2018.
In September 2017, Eva was featured in the AFL Media series The Chase, where she spoke about her initially limited playing opportunities in women's Australian rules football and her time in coaching prior to the creation of the AFL Women's, as well as her coaching aspirations post-football. In April 2019, Eva received the AFLCA coaching pathway scholarship, and she was enrolled in the second intake of the AFL Women's Coaching Academy later that year. She later completed a study tour in the United States at the end of the AFL season as part of her scholarship.

Honours and achievements

Individual