WAFLW clubs East Fremantle and Subiaco come together for A Team Cup for Harvey youngster

WAFLW clubs East Fremantle and Subiaco came together at the weekend to host the second annual The A Team Cup football game for a young Harvey girl who has an extremely rare genetic condition. The match took place on Sunday and was held in support of seven-year-old Harvey youngster Ariella Italiano, who has a condition known as TBC1D24, and is one of less than 100 cases known worldwide. The A Team game was first created by East Fremantle in 2021 as an opportunity for the club to get behind one of their loyal supporters and contribute to a greater cause within the community. The Sharks have several South West players on their list, including Harvey and Busselton stars Larissa Versaci and Beth Beckett. East Fremantle coach Matt Templeton — who coached Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault and Waroona previously — said the game was incredibly important to the East Fremantle women’s team. “Ariella’s resilience, courage and mental strength is a real inspiration to the playing group and shows them there’s no challenge within the game they can’t overcome,” he said. The game was dedicated to raising funds and awareness for the TBC1D24 Foundation, a foundation dedicated to funding research into treatments for Ariella’s condition. On the field, East Fremantle won the match 9.9 (63) to 2.1 (13).