AFL - the Australian Football League - is a professional competition of Australian rules football.
The pair only started playing Aussie rules in the last couple of years. They play club football for South East London Giants, having met at university whilst playing for Loughborough Students’ Women’s Football Club.
During the Transatlantic Cup, they competed against Canada, USA, Colombia, France and Ireland for their team, Great Britain Swans.
Ellie was awarded MVP (most valuable player) in the opening game against Canada, kicking two vital goals for the team. The points won GB the game in the last minutes.
The team ultimately lost out in the semi-finals to Ireland who then went on to win the competition. In their final game, GB played France. Alex kicked four goals to round out the tournament in style.
Travelling to Canada was a brilliant opportunity for the alumnae. Not only did they get to compete in AFL for their country for the first time, but they also had the chance to visit Niagara Falls, went to a Blue Jays and Toronto Argonauts game, and enjoyed seeing the sights around Toronto.
Ellie Hyner graduated in 2019 with a degree in Psychology and Alex Stephens graduated with a Sport and Exercise Science degree in 2020.