CARLTON forward Tayla Harris has been named the Young Victorian of the Year. 

The 23-year-old achieved the honour for not only her talents on the field but selfless work off it.

Harris once again shone brightly in the sporting arena, spearheading the Blues up forward during the 2020 NAB AFLW season while also continuing to be an unstoppable force in the boxing ring.

Remaining undefeated in her eight fights, Harris' athleticism has seen her claim both the super welterweight and middleweight championships.

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However, the forever humble Harris has shown her passion and willingness to stand for much more than wins and losses.

This year she has continued her work as an ambassador of Our Watch, an organisation partnered with the club’s Carlton Respects initiative that aims to promote gender equality for the prevention of violence against women.

Harris’ work has centred around building respectful relationships, using her own experiences in regards to online abuse to help educate and raise awareness of the impact behaviours can have.

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Carlton CEO Cain Liddle expressed the club’s pride in having a person of the quality of Harris representing the Carlton Football Club.

"The Carlton Football Club is extremely proud of Tayla for being named the 2021 Young Victorian of the Year," Liddle said.

"She is a driven, authentic and passionate person who not only understands her responsibility as a role model, but embraces it also.

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"Tayla has had to endure some pretty horrific experiences online and it is a testament to who she is as a person that she has used those experiences as motivation to influence positive change within society.

"Our football club is proud of our Carlton Respects program and Tayla’s work within it has seen Carlton Respects begin to grow into the most influential gender equality program in Australian sport.

"She is a most-deserving recipient of this award and we commend her for the way she has epitomised our club values, while also forging her own path as an ambassador who continues to work towards impacting societal change."