Ellie’s skills shine through

ENDEAVOUR Hills footballer Ellie Blackburn stole the show at the final of the Youth Girls Metropolitan Championships on Saturday, kicking two goals in a best-on-ground performance for the South Eastern Youth Girls.
Blackburn’s team was unstoppable in the final, running over the Western Youth Girls 9.18 (72) to 0.6 (6) to claim a memorable victory and the win capped off a fantastic carnival for Blackburn.
Playing through the midfield, she clocked up two best-on-ground performances in her four games with the South Eastern girls and was named in the best in the other two.
The 14-year-old said there were a number of factors contributing to the whitewash in the final.
“We were a more attacking side, we were running more, we put a lot more pressure on the other side,” she said.
Blackburn is no stranger on the local football scene, playing in the Beaconsfield under-14 premiers side, as well as for Berwick in the Girls Youth team.
Asked which was the tougher competition – the boys’ with Beaconsfield or the girls’ with Berwick, Blackburn was adamant – the girls’.
“It’s different, in the girls’, it’s a lot more rough,” she said. “They’re a lot bigger, they’re more physical.”
In the Youth Girls competition, Blackburn takes on players up to 18 years old, but said she enjoyed the tougher challenge.
This year marks her final season in the boys’ competition – rules state that girls cannot play with the boys past 14 years old, but Blackburn will have plenty to keep her occupied in 2010.
Along with her immense football talents, Blackburn is one of the rising stars of the cricket world, and was recently selected in the Cricket Victoria state squad.
She is dedicated to both her sports, but said she did not have any specific goals in mind for the future.
“I just want to play at a high standard of footy and cricket,” she said.
Dad John, however, had a different view, hoping his daughter might swap sports to help him towards an early retirement.
“If she was a bloke, I’d look at sitting back and managing her,” he said with a chuckle.
“She doesn’t go too bad with the old golf club, she gives it a good whack.”