Kara Antonio ( Donnellan, born 27 February 1992) is a former

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 who played for the

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represent the port city of ...

in the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 1 ...

competition.

Early life and amateur career

Antonio spent her early years in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. She played state league football with the St Abans Women's Football Club (now VU Western Spurs) through 2012. Donnellan moved to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

prior to the 2013 season and began playing with

Swan Districts The Swan Districts Football Club, nicknamed the Swans, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The club is based at Bassendean Oval, in Bassendean, an eastern suburb ...

in the

West Australian Women's Football League The West Australian Women's Football League (WAWFL) was the governing body of women's Australian rules football in the state of Western Australia from 1987 until its dissolution in 2021. It organised the premier women's football league in Wes ...

. She is currently the captain of Swan Districts. In 2013, she was drafted by the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

to play in the exhibition match representative side. She was selected fifth overall in the initial two-team draft. She went on to play with the side in exhibition matches through 2016. Antonio was named best on ground following the first of two exhibition matches in 2015. She also played for and represented the side in an exhibition match played in 2016.

AFL Women's career

Antonio was one of two marquee player signings announced by in anticipation of the league's inaugural 2017 season. In January 2017, she was announced as the inaugural captain of the Fremantle AFL Women's team. Antonio was highlighted as "Player of the Week" by the

AFL Players Association The AFL Players Association (AFL PA, also simply known as AFL Players) is the representative body for all current and past professional Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW) players. The AFL PA promotes and protects its membe ...

for her "best on ground" performance in the Dockers' first AFLW win in round 6 against . However, she tore a quadriceps in the third quarter of that match, causing her to miss the final game of the season. After six rounds, Antonio was statistically in the top two players overall and in score assists, fourth in kicks, tackles and clearances, and top ten in disposals and inside 50s. Despite missing the final game, Antonio was nominated by her teammates for the AFL Players' Most Valuable Player Award, and was listed in the 2017 All-Australian team. Fremantle signed Antonio for the 2018 season during the trade period in May 2017. It was revealed Antonio signed on with the club for one year on 10 June 2021.

Statistics

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Personal life

In October 2019, Kara married fellow Fremantle player

Ebony Antonio Ebony Antonio (born 18 December 1991) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Fremantle Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). Antonio represented The Allies in the inaugural AFL Women's State of Origin match in 2017, and won AFL ...

and changed her surname from Donnellan to Antonio.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Antonio, Kara 1992 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Fremantle Football Club (AFLW) players Fremantle Football Club captains All-Australians (AFL Women's) Lesbian sportswomen Australian lesbians Australian LGBT sportspeople LGBT players of Australian rules football