From the Philippines to Whyalla to Port‘s No.1 AFLW draft pick, Hannah Ewings’ family has crossed continents to get here

Hannah Ewings, who starred as a midfielder for North Adelaide in this year’s SANFLW season en route to being selected by the Power at pick No.3 overall last Wednesday night, followed the footsteps of the males in her family in taking up the sport.

Brothers Tyson, 25, and Jordan, 23, were role models, but even more important was her father.

In contrast to the tale of Greg Phillips, South Australian football great and father of Port’s marquee signing and AFLW’s biggest star Erin, Jeff Ewings arrived in Australia with his family as an 11-year-old. He could barely speak English.

“I’m half-Chinese, half-Filipino. My mum married my stepdad, he has a transport business in Whyalla,” Jeff says.

“I was born in the Philippines. It was tough, [we were] a close knit sort of family.”

Once in Whyalla, the best way to make friends was to play sport.

“It was my uncle who got me into footy. He was in the A-grade team.”

The enthusiasm was always there, even if some of the finer points were initially lost on a migrant Filipino child playing at Roopena Football Club in Whyalla.

“I started playing in under-12s. They said, ‘All right Jeff, go and play in the ruck’. I remember kicking my first goal, which I thought was my first goal, but I was actually playing fullback. I celebrated, I thought I’d kicked a goal. But they said, ’No, you’re playing fullback Jeff’. They put me in the ruck after that,” Jeff says.

Hannah smiles as she recounts how she’s heard that story “many times before”.

Moving to a new country at that age is never going to be straightforward. But Jeff is proof of sport’s ability to smooth the path of new Australians.

“It was tough. That was one way to pick up how to speak English. It wasn’t too bad. You hang around with good friends, it makes the transformation a little bit easier.”

Ewings was hooked. He would go on to captain Roopena’s A-grade side, become a life member and stalwart.

His boys played too, and then came Hannah, a sporting star from a young age, playing representative junior cricket for South Australia.

It was football though where the greatest opportunities ultimately came.

For Port it was almost a no-brainer to select Ewings with the first pick in the South Australian pool.

“Hannah has already shown that she can play at senior level and have an impact,” Port list manager Naomi Maidment says in her club synopsis.

“She’s tough, has silky skills, plays inside and can push forward and kick goals. She’s ready-made for AFLW level, as much as an 18-year-old can be. She’s an apprentice chef who moved from Whyalla for an opportunity in football and was really brave to move at a young age. It really is a testament to her commitment as a footballer.”

And she is now a teammate of South Australian football royalty.

“Erin and Chelsea [Randall] are my favourites. I‘ve idolised them both throughout my whole career. So it’s really special to play [with] Erin,” Hannah says.

“I’ve idolised her my whole life, so to be able to come under her wing, and the amount of knowledge she can bring to all of us girls is amazing. She’s taught me a lot so far in my life, as a person, as a player.”

A Collingwood supporter (at least until now), Hannah’s goals are modest for the short-term.

“Just to even get one game. To be able to earn respect from all your [teammates], the coaches, to have the opportunity, I’m really looking forward to that.

“It’s amazing. Surreal. It’s finally happened, I’ve been dreaming of this day since I could literally pick up a football.

“It’s amazing. To be given this opportunity, everyone’s worked so hard. I just can’t wait to get stuck in.

“To see how far everyone has come and the amount of effort everyone has put into this club…I can’t wait. [The first training session] is going to be amazing. I’ve heard nothing but good things, and the culture and the relationships that you’re going to build are going to be phenomenal.”

For Jeff and Hannah’s mum Tash, their daughter’s achievement is a reward for countless hours of toil.

“Extremely proud,” Jeff says.

“We’ve gone through the journey with her back since she was 11 years old playing state cricket back then. We went through that journey playing state cricket and she started playing footy again. We went through that journey with her, travelling four hours just to go to Adelaide, taking her to training. It’s rewarding for all of us as a family to go through that. Really proud.”