Libby Birch (born 3 December 1997) 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 who plays for

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

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 ...

(AFLW). She played the first 3 seasons of AFLW for the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

. She previously played

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

and captained

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 ...

at the National Netball Championships. Birch is currently studying a Physiotherapy degree at La Trobe University. In 2016, Birch switched from netball to Australian rules football and was recruited by the

as a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

after having only played football for three months for the

Darebin Falcons The Darebin Women's Sports Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is based in the northern suburbs of Melbourne and primarily notable for its Australian rules football team which competes in the highest-level Victorian state league – the VFL Women's (VF ...

in the

VFL Women's VFL Women's (VFLW) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in Victoria. The league initially comprised the six premier division clubs and the top four division 1 clubs from the now-defunct Victorian Women's Football Le ...

Sporting background

In April 2016, Birch won a silver medal for netball when Victoria finished runners-up at the under 21 national championships. After the tournament,

Daisy Pearce Daisy Pearce (born 27 May 1988) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition. Often regarded as the face of women's Australian rules football, Pearce has served as Melbourne c ...

from the Darebin Falcons made contact with Birch and invited her to trial for the inaugural AFL Women's season. Prior to 18 June 2016, she had never kicked a football but only ten weeks later, Birch played and won a VFL Women's premiership with her team, Darebin. In 2015, she had also won the

Victorian Netball League The Victorian Netball League is a state netball league featuring teams from Victoria, Australia. The league is organised by Netball Victoria. The modern league was first played for during the 2009 season. It replaced an earlier state league as th ...

grand final (championship division) with Boroondarah Express.

AFL Women's career

In 2017, Birch played all seven games for the

as a 19-year old rookie. She made her

(AFLW) debut in the opening round against

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

and played as a half back and also on the wing but her overall athletic profile allows her the ability to play any position. In the off-season of the AFLW, she continues to play for Darebin in the VFL Women's. In May 2017, she re-signed with the Western Bulldogs on to the senior list for the 2018 AFLW season. Birch was one of two round 2 nominees for the

2018 AFL Women's Rising Star The AFL Women's Rising Star is an Australian rules football award given annually to the best young player in the AFL Women's (AFLW) for the year. Two eligible players are nominated each round of the home-and-away season; the players must have ...

award after a strong defensive tagging role and six disposal match against

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

in February 2018. She went on to run fifth in the bulldogs best and fairest count, play in their premiership win and make the All Australian Squad. Birch also won the competitions AFLW rebel young leader award for 2018. After playing every game in AFLW season 3, Birch finished 5th again in the Bulldogs best and fairest. On the last day of the AFLW April 2019 sign and trade period

secured Birch for at least the next 2 seasons. The Western Bulldogs finally agreed to terms with Birch being traded for

Ashleigh Guest Ashleigh Guest (born 10 April 1990) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for Greater Western Sydney, Melbourne, and the Western Bulldogs in the AFL Women's (AFLW). Guest was drafted by the Greater Western Sydney Giants with their ...

plus picks 8 and 48. In April 2019, Birch was traded to

, while

joined the Western Bulldogs. In her first season for Melbourne in 2020, Libby won the clubs Trademark Award along with finishing 5th in the Best and Fairest. In addition to this, Libby was picked in the AFLW All Australian Team as well as the AFLPA 22Under22 All Australian Team. Libby was also a nominee for the AFLPA's MVP Award and Most Courageous. Outside of her on-field playing ability, Birch also featured in a special comments role for SEN's AFLW Commentary as well as playing a prominent role in NAB AFL Auskick at Home Content Series, motivating kids to stay active during the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

lockdown periods. Birch joined Melbourne's leadership group in the 2021 AFLW season. In 2022 season 6, Birch was again named in the All-Australian team, and in 2022 season 7 she won the AFLW premiership for the second time. This made her the first woman to win a premiership for two different AFLW clubs. Birch continues to write for ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' and feature as a specialist for channel 7. In 2023, Birch will also cover AFL for 3AW as an expert commentator.

Sporting achievements

* Victorian state hockey team and open state league team in 2011 and 2012 (Footscray Hockey Club) * Captain Victorian state netball team — gold medallist in the National Championships from 2011 to 2014 * Australian netball underage squad member in 2012, 2013, 2014 * Victorian Institute of Sport full scholarship from 2013 to 2015 *

grand final player — Premiership winners in the Championship division with the Boroondara Netball Club in 2015 * Most valuable player Victorian Netball League in 2016 (Boroondara Netball Club) * Under 21 and Australian Netball League squad (Victoria) in 2016 and 2017 * Western Bulldogs AFLW player, inaugural 2017 season * VFL Women's premiership player 2016 and 2017

* Nab Rising Star Nominee 2018 * All Australian AFLW squad selection 2018 * rebel 2018 AFLW young leader award winner * Western Bulldogs AFLW premiership player 2018 * Western Bulldogs VFLW 3rd place Best & Fairest 2018 * VFL Women's Team of the Year selection 2018 and 2019 * Casey Demons Runner Up Best & Fairest 2019 * 2019 Inaugural Western Bulldogs Community Service Award. * Melbourne AFLW Trademark Award 2020 * Melbourne AFLW 5th Place Best & Fairest 2020 * AFLPA MVP Nominee 2020 * AFLPA Most Courageous Nominee 2020 * AFLW All Australian Team - Centre half back 2020 * AFLW 22Under22 All Australian Team 2020

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Birch, Libby Living people 1997 births Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Western Bulldogs (AFLW) players Darebin Falcons players Melbourne Football Club (AFLW) players Australian netball players Sportswomen from Victoria (state) Victorian Netball League players Netball players from Melbourne