HAVANA Harris is what you might term a football unicorn.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a player anything like the Gold Coast Suns Academy product. Harris' versatility is her biggest weapon. She can tear teams apart as a midfielder, can be dominant in the ruck and is a force to be reckoned with as a forward.
Harris has explosive speed, a huge jump and that real game-breaking ability, meaning it won't be long until she is a household name of the AFLW competition.
The Bond University product began her football journey in year six at school, before joining local club the Burleigh Bombers a year later.
A star was born. From there Harris progressed to the QAFL and the Suns Academy, flourishing with every opportunity that came her way.
The 182cm jet comes from an elite sporting background. Nippers, tennis and even Oztag (a non-tackling variation of rugby league) all featured heavily in her childhood.
But in her junior years, athletics was Harris' passion. Harris was a talented multi-event athlete, competing regularly in the 100 metres and 200 metres, long jump and high jump.
"I was best at high jump, represented Queensland in that and came away with a few golds at national level," she told AFL.com.au.
But it wouldn't take long for footy to become her main passion.
"Coming from an individual sport like athletics, I loved the team sport and being around friends," Harris said.
"[Athletics] helped a lot with that speed and agility, everything you need to play."
Harris had a dominant under-age campaign where she won the Queensland Under 18s MVP as a 17-year-old and gained valuable experience in the QAFL.
"It was awesome. Backing myself more and knowing what I'm capable of definitely played a big role this year," she said.
It meant Harris came into 2024 as one of the faces of this year's draft crop, but that certainly hasn't fazed her.
"I think I deal with pressure really well, I consider myself a pretty laidback person. I love footy, so I don't really think there's been too much pressure on me. I just come back to my reasons why I love footy and that's being around the people that I love and playing with friends," she said.
The Suns Academy program has been crucial to Harris' development throughout her journey, but especially in 2024.
During the season, Harris would be in at the club twice a week, participating in training and gym sessions. It means she's ready-made for senior football and could make an immediate impact in 2025.
"The connection with the Gold Coast Academy girls are amazing. Everyone's friendly and they want to be there for a reason, which is to get better. The coaches there are amazing as well," she said.
"I've worked on my positioning around the ground, where I can be most dangerous. Something I'm looking to improve on is my speed."
Harris has seen firsthand how much football in Queensland is booming. When she first began at the Burleigh Bombers there were just two girls teams; now there are several from all age groups.
"The development in Queensland has changed hugely with the Academy and the amount of girls coming through," Harris said.
"My mum is really involved. She's still helping out at the Burleigh Bombers even though I'm not playing there anymore. Having people like that really push for girls footy is amazing."
Away from the footy field, Harris loves the beach and enjoys travelling and hanging out with her mates.
"I love camping, you can camp in all these amazing spots. I love camping right on the beach and then waking up and being able to go for a swim and a surf," she said.
"My whole family is into surfing, we will go out to a fun community thing and getting my friends in the water is amazing."
