Ashanti Bush (born 18 August 2002) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er playing for

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

in the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football league for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the league ...

competition (AFLW). Bush was born and raised in

Wugularr, Northern Territory Wugularr, also known by its non-Aboriginal name Beswick, is a small community in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located south-east of Katherine and from the Barunga Community. The traditional owners are the Bagala people. A DC-3 ...

of indigenous descent, from a

Jawoyn The Jawoyn, also written Djauan, are an Australian Aboriginal people living in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Bagala clan are of the Jawoyn people. Language Jawoyn, known as Kumertuo, is a non- Pama–Nyungan language that belongs ...

(Bagala) regions descended from the

Maiawali The Maiawali, other wise known as the ''Mayuli,'' are an indigenous Australian people of the state of Queensland. Language The Maiawali spoke a dialect of Pitta Pitta. A number of brief records of their language were made by early European settl ...

Iwaidja The Iwaidja are an indigenous Australian people of the Northern Territory. Name Norman Tindale states that the name is based on their word for 'no' (''ii''). Language Iwaidja is one of the Iwaidjan languages of the Cobourg Peninsula, all of whi ...

and Yolngu people and is from a family of

Indigenous Australian art Indigenous Australian art includes art made by Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, bark painting, wood carving ...

ists. She attended primary school there before moving to Darwin to attend boarding school. Bush began playing Australian rules from a young age following her older sister and relative

David Wirrpanda David Selwyn Burralung Merringwuy Galarrwuy Wyal Wirrpanda ( ; born 3 August 1979) is a former Australian rules footballer, best known for his career with the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Born in Melbourne, Wirrpand ...

and Stephanie Williams, always aspiring to play AFLW. Proving a talent she joined the NT Thunder Academy and later moving to the Gold Coast to join the

Gold Coast Suns Academy The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since th ...

. To improve her chances of being drafted she followed a proven pathway moving to Melbourne to play games with

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawt ...

’s VFLW team before being drafted by the Gold Coast Suns. Bush was picked by the Gold Coast at number 8 in the 2021 AFL Women's draft. She debuted in 2022 (S6) and won the Goal of the Year in her second season for her Round 10 goal.Bush brilliance wins Crypto.com AFLW Goal of the Year
By SUNS Media 22 November 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bush, Ashanti 2002 births Living people Sportswomen from the Northern Territory Gold Coast Football Club (AFLW) players Australian rules football players from Darwin, Northern Territory