Fifteen-year-old Nishanaye Thompson grew up in Tennant Creek but moved to Darwin five years ago to play footy — now, she's come home.
For the first time in the Barkly region's history, she can represent her hometown by playing the game she loves.
"This is history, to be honest — I can't wait to play for my hometown," she said.
The Barkly region, which includes Tennant Creek and dozens of remote communities in Central Australia, has had a football league since 1991.
Now, with just three months' notice, the competition has set up a women's league that includes two Tennant Creek teams and two teams from remote communities.
For Ms Thompson, who is also the captain of her team, the new league has come just in time.
She has her eye on the prize.
After this season's nine-round competition wraps up, Ms Thompson will head back to Darwin, where she plays for the Wanderers.
Kicking goals
Wayne Green from NTAFL has been working in the Barkly for 10 years and said this weekend's game was a long time coming.
"There's always been interest, and we've tried before but not been successful," he said.
"But the AFLW has helped and I think we've also just had the right people this year who really wanted to see it happen."
Mr Green said the idea started with a roadshow event in April, which then led to regular practice sessions. Then, after a trial game, the season came to fruition.
"A lot of them haven't played before either and are just having a crack."
They might be a new league, but Mr Green says the women have been well supported by their clubs and sponsors.
"I'm really proud to see this finally happen here," he said.
Pushing themselves to the limit
The four teams include two clubs with men's teams in Tennant Creek and teams from Ali Curung, 170 kilometres south of Tennant Creek, and Canteen Creek, 270km away.
Canteen Creek and Ali Curung join just four other women's league teams from remote communities in the Territory.
Samara Shannon said it was not hard to get a team together in Ali Curung when the opportunity popped up.
"The girls were really keen and now we have about 30 girls on the team," she said.
Wanting to turn the tide on the rates of chronic disease in remote communities, Ms Shannon says Ali Curung's women have been keen for the opportunity,
"We want them to push themselves to the limit, otherwise diabetes or that sort of thing could kick in," she said.
"It's mostly health for us," she says, but with four training sessions a week, the women are being held accountable to one another.
After years of unrest, Ms Shannon says she is "really proud" to play for Ali Curung.
"Our community was broken and just getting back together after all the dramas, so it's really exciting," she said.
Even stronger
Harry Price helped set up the team in Ali Curung and says it has not been easy. Cost and logistics made it a massive feat.
Ali Curung and Canteen Creek join just four other remote women's teams in the Territory.
Yet, despite the odds, the women of Ali Curung organised a team in less than five weeks.
"The big thing is administration," Mr Price said.
"There's a lot of computer-based work that needs to be done to get these teams up and running and access to computers is pretty limited.
"It becomes really hard for people to do it without any help from service providers who are working in town."
Mr Green agreed it was hard for bush teams to get involved: "They need somebody there in the community to put the hand up and drive it."
There have been other barriers too. Time and time again he has been hearing from teams that transport has been a major issue for remote communities, where cars are hard to come by and fuel is dear.
"We would welcome other communities next year to put the hand up and say, 'I want to be part of it'.
"We'll be back next year even stronger."
