Zillmere’s Tayla Harris has taken out the South East Queensland Women’s League Best and Fairest medal at the league’s awards ceremony on Friday night.
Players from all seven clubs swapped footy boots for heels and jerseys for dresses as they let down their hair to celebrate a fantastic 2012 season.
Votes were tight after the first six rounds with Indy Sleeth (Palm Beach Currumbin), Jordan Zanchetta (Yeronga/Sth Brisbane) and Kara Fabian (Kedron) pooling well early to share the lead on six votes a-piece.
Despite being vote-less until Round Six, Harris finished the season strongly to claim the Best and Fairest award with 16 votes.
She just edged out Indy Sleeth and Morningside’s Emma Zielke (12 votes) to take the title.
It’s been a massive year for the 15-year-old who adds the league’s top award to a long list of football accolades this season.
Tayla represented Queensland at the under 18 Youth Girls National Championships earning All-Australian selection for her standout performances and was the youngest player invited to the recent Female High Performance Academy in Melbourne where she was named player of the tournament.
The night also celebrated other achievements in female footy with a host of awards handed out.
Morningside’s Monica O’Brien was recognised for her 150th game along with Sally Young, Emma Zielke and Aleea Zaneer who all celebrated their half-century of games this season.
The 2012 Rising Star Award was also claimed by Harris who won the accolade from a field of top nominees including Jordan Zanchetta and Tala Zanotti.
Caitlin Collins (Yeronga/Sth Brisbane) was 2012’s Leading Goal Kicker booting 25-goals this season.
Topping off the night was the announcement of the 2012 Women’s League ‘Team of Year’ which featured players from every club including a host of players from grand finalists Zillmere and Yeronga/Sth Brisbane.
Making it a hat-trick for the evening Harris was named as an on-baller in the team while Kedron’s Ron Kemp was honoured as the coach.
The night was a fitting tribute to Women’s Football in south-east Queensland and the perfect warm-up for the league’s Grand Final played on Sunday afternoon.
