
It is pretty rare to find a young footballer with dreams of making it to the elite level who isnât a die-hard supporter of an AFL team - but Bondâs newest Riewoldt Family AFL Excellence Scholarship holder, Charlie Adamson is one of them.
The Bachelor of Sports and Exercise Science student didnât even know AFL was a sport until a few years ago.
She barracked for Barcelona in the Spanish La Liga and her ambition was to play for the Matildas.
âGrowing up my family didnât support AFL⌠I didnât even know it was a sport to be honest,â Adamson said.
Adamson grew up on the Gold Coast, and instead of Aussie Rules, excelled in equestrian and soccer.
âWe used to live out on a farm and my mum was a horse breeder, so we had about 20 horses and I did high-level equestrian growing up,â she said.
âI also played competitive soccer in the national premier league and did some national representative stuff.â
In Adamsonâs final year of school at All Saints she had a D1 scholarship on the table for an American university to play soccer.
However, when an opportunity arose with the female AFL team at All Saints the life trajectory shifted.
âIâd never played AFL before and wasnât really allowed to play, but I just thought âI wonât tell anyone, and it will be fine,ââ she said.
âAnd I absolutely loved it, I would sneakily play games on Friday and not tell my dad.â
While playing a game, Adamson was spotted by a Gold Coast Suns academy scout.
âHe tried to convince me to go and play and I basically told him to âbugger offâ,â she said.
âI eventually got some advice from my dad and ended up revisiting the offer.â
âThe academy did a lot of intensive work, teaching me how to kick properly⌠itâs a little bit different to soccer.
âI donât know what they saw in me, but they saw something.â
Adamson kept her intensive soccer training up alongside her AFL training to the point of burn-out.
It came to a turning point when Adamson was set to fly to America a week later to pursue her soccer career.
âI wasnât enjoying soccer, but I was loving AFL,â said Adamson
âI knew I had to decide between the two, so I sat on the decision a bit and I ended up picking AFL, to everyoneâs surprise.â
Adamson went through the Gold Coast Suns Academy in 2023 and trained with the AFLW side, but did not get picked up in the draft.
She completed the 2024 pre-season last year with Bond, but unfortunately in a heartbreaking moment in a practice match, tore her ACL.
âIt was the first two minutes into the game, and I went in for a tackle, and fell off balance,â she said.
âI was hysterical, it was probably one of the most painful things, you just know itâs over, I was a wreck.â
The midfielder has spent the last 11 months recovering her knee to full strength and has found a passion for helping athletes through their rehab, so when the applications for Bond Universityâs AFL scholarship opened, and Adamson realised she could study sport and exercise science, it was a no-brainer to apply.
âI love Andy (Andy Lovell, Director of AFL at Bond University), Iâve had a few coaches in my lifetime and heâs the top one Iâve ever had,â she said.
âHeâs just so personable and his knowledge of the game is unmatched.
âThis season will be my first full season; it will be good to put on my Bond guernsey and string some good footy together.â
Bondâs AFLW team are chasing a chance at redemption after falling short against Southport Sharks in last seasonâs Grand Final
âAfter our AFLW camp last weekendâŚIâm scared for the rest of the competition come round one. We are going to be unreal!â she said.