Yasi
Yasmeen Janschek
Australian football · GWS Giants (AFLW)
Yasmeen’s story
In her fifth AFLW game, Yasmeen Janschek won 27 hitouts in the Sydney derby, more than anyone else on the ground. Two years earlier, she was still learning how to play footy.
Yasmeen came to Australian football from beach sprinting and representative netball, where she played for NSW at under-17 and under-19 level. She already knew how to read the play, time a jump and compete in the air. The challenge was learning how to use those strengths in a sport with different rules, different skills and a position she’d never played before.
By 2025, just her second year of footy, Yasmeen was playing for the Giants Academy and Sandringham in the VFLW and had earned a call-up to the Allies. She averaged 33.5 hitouts across four Coates Talent League games for the Giants Academy. GWS selected her at pick 55 in the 2025 AFLW Draft.
Yasmeen made her AFLW debut against West Coast in Round 1 of 2026 and quickly established herself as the Giants’ lead ruck. She finished her first season with 211 hitouts across 12 games. She was still learning the game while taking on one of the most demanding roles in it.
Away from footy, Yasmeen studies astrophysics and mathematics, tutors high school students and has wanted to become an astronaut since she was young. She knows what it’s like to care deeply about sport and have ambitions outside it, and to work out how to give both the time they deserve.
What Yasmeen brings as a mentor
Yasmeen knows what it feels like to be good at one thing and then become a beginner again. She can help you recognise what you already bring to a new sport, position or team, then break down what you need to learn. Together, you can choose a skill to focus on, work out how to practise it and decide what progress will look like over the next few weeks.
She also brings experience as a tutor and as an athlete balancing study with elite sport. If school and training are pulling you in different directions, Yasmeen can help you build a routine that works in a real week, including what to adjust when exams or competition ramp up. You’ll check in on what worked and decide what to change together.