Chloe tries Big V for size

By Marc McGowan
BERWICK footballer Chloe McMillan will achieve her childhood dreams when she pulls on the boots for the Big V in Queensland on Sunday.
McMillan, 14, is part of the inaugural Victorian Secondary School girls’ team that will compete in an exhibition School Sport Australia tournament against Western Australia and Queensland.
More than 90 girls from around the state tried out before the final 25-player side was whittled down over two trials. “I didn’t know what to think (when I found out I was selected),” she said. “I thought it was a joke; I was just pumped and excited.”
McMillan is confident the Victorians, under All-Australian coach and player Shannon McFerran, can continue the success they’ve had in senior female championships.
“We’ll just try not to get nervous and play how we would normally,” McMillan said.
“Victoria normally wins most of the championships, so we’ll go in thinking we can do the same and come back with the championship.”
The Year 9 Kooweerup Secondary College student plays for the Narre South Lions in the South Eastern Youth Girls competition on weekends.
McMillan, an inside midfielder, also helped the league win the AFL Victoria Metropolitan Junior Championships against other Youth Girls’ competitions last month.
The North Melbourne fan even received the rare opportunity of playing on the MCG as part of those championships and admitted it was a ‘nerve-racking’ experience.
But McMillan’s sporting prowess doesn’t end with football.
She is also a talented fast bowler for Cardinia and Mornington and captained the under-14 South East Country squad last season.
McMillan plays against the boys for Cardinia and competes in open-age competition for Mornington.
She missed out by only one place on representing her state in the summer sport.
But McMillan, on returning from the national championships, will turn her attention to helping Narre South win the flag.
The Lions are in second place with a 9-3 win-loss record behind Noble Park, but are three games clear of third-ranked Berwick.
“We just got knocked off the top two weeks ago, so we’re second by percentage, but hopefully we can get back on top,” she said.