WHEN Katherine Smith was drafted at pick No.56 – Melbourne’s seventh pick overall in last week’s AFL Women’s Draft – it capped off a massive week for the youngster.

Not only did she land on an AFL list, she was undertaking practice exams, before the real thing, as she completed year 12. Despite having so much on her plate, she was “over the moon” to find out her footballing future.

“It’s been my lifelong dream to get drafted,” she told Melbourne TV.

“I remember when I was a kid and I was at Auskick, I always wanted to get drafted.”

Smith’s football journey started when she played Auskick in prep and then went to the Blackburn Football Club, playing with in the boys’ teams. She switched to Youth Girls, when she was 12 years old and played for a couple of year.

From there, Smith progressed to Vic Metro and the Sandringham Dragons and was drafted from the Eastern Devils.

Smith played Youth Girls with fellow Melbourne draftees Deanna Berry, Lliy Mithen and Jasmine Grierson, over the past four years, and said it was “absolutely amazing” to get drafted with them. 

The half-back also plays with Pepa Randall at Eastern Devils and couldn’t wait to continue playing with her.