FORMER AFL Women Adelaide Crows player Jess Allan has this week traded football boots for army boots as she starts training at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) in Canberra.
The Millicent-born star athlete was welcomed into the Australian Army at an appointment ceremony in Adelaide and joins 215 young men and women from around Australia as they start their military careers at the academy.
Ms Allan, who was also an elite basketball player, has put her burgeoning AFL career on hold and become an army officer.
She will not add to her career tally of four AFLW games in the near future.
“The physical lifestyle of ADFA is very appealing to me,” Ms Allan said.
“No other university includes physical training as part of the curriculum.
The 19-year-old said she had always wanted to join the Army and was excited to follow her eldest sister Megan, an Army unit quartermaster, into a life in the Army.
“I was drawn to ADFA by the opportunity to study a Bachelor of Arts while also learning a vast range of skills including navigation, weapon handling and general military training.
“Joining as an Army general service officer allows me to learn more about different job roles in the Army before choosing a specialisation, so I am very open-minded to the career path I may follow.”
Ms Allen has played football since she was five years old and was taken at pick number eight in the 2017 AFLW draft.
The Millicent High School graduate is a versatile ruck with an impressive work rate and a terrific contested mark.
Her other sister is AFLW premiership player Sarah Allan.
Their father Keith played 69 SANFL games for Central District between 1987 and 1992 and in the 2001 Hatherleigh premiership side in the Mid South East Football League.
A gifted athlete,Ms Allan won the vertical running jump test and was sixth in the 20 metre sprint at October’s AFLW Draft Combine in 2017.
Ms Allen captained the Allies (a representative team consisting of players from South Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania) in the 2017 Under-18 National Championships and was named vice-captain of the All-Australian team from that carnvial.
She also played for Glenelg in the inaugural SANFL Women’s League.
In welcoming Jess and the other recruits, Recruiting director-general air commodore Sue McGready said it is exciting to see ADFA broadening the range of degrees on offer through the University of New South Wales (UNSW).
“The Australian Defence Force is a sophisticated, modern workforce which requires highly skilled and innovative people to keep up with the latest technology and capability,” Air Commodore McGready said.
“UNSW is offering a highly competitive computing and cyber security degree which gives graduates an intellectual advantage for all careers in the ADF.
“No matter what degree you undertake, ADFA offers one of the best student / teacher ratios in the country and the finest academic staff in their respective fields.”
ADFA is the only university in Australia where students are paid while they obtain a degree in the fields of Arts, Business, Science, Engineering and Technology and where graduates are guaranteed a job at its completion.
