Jas
Jasmine Sowden
Australian football · Port Adelaide (AFLW)
Jasmine’s story
Jasmine Sowden grew up in Buchan, in Victoria’s East Gippsland, as one of 13 children and one of five sisters who played footy. On the family’s rural property, there was usually someone around to kick a ball with. She was homeschooled for much of high school and spent hours there working on her game.
At Gippsland Power, that work started to show. In one game against the Murray Bushrangers, she had 31 disposals and kicked four goals. Port Adelaide, the club she’d grown up supporting, selected her at pick 52 in the 2024 AFLW Draft.
Jasmine turned 18 the day after Port Adelaide drafted her. A day later, she was in Adelaide. After growing up in a house that was rarely quiet, she was suddenly in a new state, getting used to the quiet and working out where she fitted in.
Jasmine knew what she could do on the field. Finding her voice in a new club took longer. Port paired her with teammate Julia Teakle, who also knew what it was like to move to Adelaide from a regional town. Having people around her who understood the adjustment helped Jasmine settle in and find her place. She went on to win Port Adelaide’s Best First-Year Player award in 2025.
A persistent foot injury disrupted her second season. While Jasmine was working through that setback, Essendon came calling. The Bombers had followed her since her Gippsland Power days and were keen to bring her back to Victoria.
What Jasmine brings as a mentor
Jasmine knows how it feels to back yourself on the field and still feel unsure of where you fit in the team. She brings the perspective of a big sister who’s had to walk into a new club, get comfortable asking for help and find her own way to speak up.
If you’re joining a new team, Jasmine can help you work out what would make you feel more settled. That might mean planning a conversation with your coach about your role or finding a teammate you can lean on while you get to know the group. If injury or time away from sport has knocked your confidence, she can help you set goals you can work on now and find ways to stay involved with your team.
You’ll come back to those goals together and talk about what’s helping, what still feels hard and what you want to work on next.