Anna Teague called time on her AFLW playing career at the end of last season after joining Geelong as an inaugural player.

Teague played nine games for the club and many more for Geelong’s VFLW side after four games at the Melbourne Demons following a successful basketball career.

She is ‘very proud’ to have been one of Geelong’s inaugural players but is excited for the next chapter in her life.

“I definitely look back on the VFLW and AFLW in being a part of the inaugural teams is really special and to do it alongside a number of the girls that are still there with the coaches and how much I learnt – it’s definitely something I am pretty proud of,” Teague said.

Today, she admits to missing her teammates but is enjoying the extra freedom she now has.

“Not having to schedule friends and family around footy training, games and blocking out six months of the year from the social calendar, so that’s first and foremost one of the more special things,” Teague said.

She also plans to use her additional time away from football to focus on an old hobby.

“I used to play a couple of instruments when I was younger, so I have got aspirations to get back into maybe doing some piano lessons or guitar lessons, but probably more piano and then try to learn a language.

Anna and her partner live in East Geelong and are currently renovating their 100-year-old home in preparation for an exciting new arrival next year.

“My partner and I are expecting a bub next April, so that has certainly shifted our focus from everything basically and it has been a really welcome piece of news in what has been a relatively difficult year.”

Teague still has a strong connection to the Geelong Football Club and is currently working within the Geelong Cats Foundation team.

“I have really enjoyed the role. I moved from teaching into the Foundation role at the beginning of 2019.”

“It has been a wonderful change, I have been able to expand my skillset and work in a different environment, the office environment is very different from a school environment.

“I still remember in my first few days I kept asking my manager if I could duck out for a coffee or duck out for an appointment or the like, but I soon learnt that it was very different to the school setting, so I have loved that and it was certainly really handy while I was playing footy, working and playing at the same club.”

A member of the club’s Inclusion and Diversity Working Group, Teague could see herself pursuing a new path in that direction in the future, and potentially linking that back into the classroom at some stage.

“It has sort of sparked something inside of me to try and maybe look at in the future in terms of a bit of extra study in the inclusive education space.

“I was always advocating it in a way but never under the banner of diversity and inclusion, it was just my personal values and beliefs but that is something I might look to get into.

“I am not sure whether that will be within the classroom, but it is definitely something that can continue to be improved on in all spaces but given my education background that could be beneficial too.”