Passing the Torch is a new spin-off podcast series under the Credit to the Girls umbrella. It profiles the young players of the AFL Women's competition who will be at the forefront of the league over the next 10 years. Episodes can be listened to via the traditional Credit to the Girls feed, wherever you get your podcasts. 

RISING Hawthorn star Jas Fleming was one of many first-year AFLW players to combine year 12 and top-flight football last year, and she learnt plenty from the experience.

Fleming is studious by nature and was determined to do well in her year 12 classes at Wesley College, now studying exercise and sports science at Deakin University.

Her draft class will be the only one to have juggled the two, which only occurred due to a second AFLW season in the space of 2022. The age eligibility for AFLW has now been reset through a mature-age draft earlier this year.

Jasmine Fleming in action during the S7, round two match between Hawthorn and St Kilda at Box Hill City Oval on September 4, 2022. Picture: AFL Photos

"I'm pretty happy with how it went. It definitely was a struggle – it was very interesting, my days just consisted of waking up, going to school, going to training, coming home and studying and then going to sleep. Then it was the same again," Fleming said.

"I probably didn't have a lot of a social life outside of that, so reflecting, I probably could have done better with that. But I enjoyed the whole experience. 

"Footy and school together kind of allowed me to juggle both, in a way. I think if I just had year 12, I probably would have gone a little bit crazy, and then if I just had footy, I probably would have focused too much on that. 

"I did learn a lot about balancing, which is good to have that view now. I probably wouldn't have done it again, but it also has given me so much more than I would have expected.

"To be able to say that I've got a season under me already, that's pretty cool, and the experiences I've had, I'm really grateful."

01:36

'That was a big shock': Fleming's AFLW graduation

Hawthorn young gun joins Passing the Torch to explain what it's like going from junior footy to playing against the best of the AFLW competition

Fleming played nine of 10 games in her first season, sitting out the final match to focus on her exams.

"We've got a player development manager (at all AFLW teams), so they communicated with schools and the coaches, just to balance everything out. I would only go to one to two trainings a week. 

"Then with SACs (School Assessed Coursework, i.e. tests that count to the final subject mark) and tests, if I couldn't make it or didn't have time to study, I'd just have to communicate with the teachers. They were really understanding, which was awesome, because if they weren't I'm not sure what I would have done, to be honest."

EPISODE GUIDE

1.44 – Auskick, boys footy and cricket

4.20 – Choosing footy over cricket

6.00 – Captaining the boys

8.30 – Debut game against Essendon at Marvel Stadium

10.56 – Juggling year 12 with AFLW

13.40 – Lessons from season one

14.30 – Dealing with a back injury over off-season

17.20 – Three wins from Hawthorn's first AFLW season

20.36 – Building on season seven

23.40 – Leadership with Fleming