ANNE Hatchard spent a decade estranged from her father, assuming he was missing out on her flourishing AFLW career and burgeoning love with wife Georgie.
But all the while, he was watching her become a three-time premiership player from the stands. Something Hatchard only learned upon their reconnection four years ago.
“Without (my) knowing, he was actually supporting me through all my football games… When I reconnected with him and he told me that he’d been to pretty much all of my games, it meant a lot to me,” Hatchard told AFL.com.au.
Growing up Mormon, church was a staple of the Hatchard household. Every Sunday was dedicated to worship, but the wedge was driven between Hatchard and her father when that time at church meant she couldn’t be like every other kid.
“Basketball was something that I started when I was seven, and it was just my biggest passion. It was the only thing I wanted to do,” Hatchard said.
“So, on Sundays when I wasn’t allowed to go to training because I had to go to church, it really did have an effect on me… Growing up, I thought church was normal, I thought that that’s just what every kid had to do, I was like ‘Okay, just go and do it’. But when I started getting older and realising (that) not everyone does this, part of me is like ‘Why? Why do I have to do this?'”
Her parents met through the church; her dad was born into it, her mum joined at 18 years old. They were quickly married, following the expected life path for young Mormons.
Anne Hatchard celebrates a goal during round six, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos
“You marry a man, and you have kids in the Mormon church,” Hatchard said.
But things weren’t that simple for Hatchard. Through basketball, and her start in footy at 16, she not only excelled with ball in hand, but she also began to understand herself more. That included comfort in being a queer woman.
“I had a tricky relationship with my dad. I think as a kid, I just felt like he put church before his family, and that because I didn’t like church and I didn’t like going… I just felt like I wasn’t good enough for him, and he kind of despised me,” Hatchard said.
“Being younger, that was really tricky for me, and not quite understanding why he is so heavily involved in the church and what he’s grown up with and what he knows… I didn’t have contact with him, and that kind of started because I couldn’t play my sport, the thing that I loved, and then I was able to come out and embrace my sexuality and then part of me (was) like ‘that’s something else my dad probably won’t accept from me’.
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She battled self-worth issues, despite excelling academically and in her sporting pursuits. Hatchard graduated as Dux of her high school, and was selected by Adelaide with pick No.87 in the inaugural Telstra AFLW draft at just 18 years of age, but it wasn’t enough.
“I look back and it was probably more within myself that I didn’t feel that worth even when there were things that I was good at. I still probably didn’t feel good enough because of that relationship with my dad,” Hatchard explained.
“I just wanted to make everyone proud, and at that point in my life as a kid, I didn’t feel like I was making him proud because I wasn’t doing what he wanted me to do.”
But a lunch meeting four years ago started to mend the wounds that had been torn open between them.
“It was like seeing a stranger again, and I didn’t know how it was going to go. But he was just so good to me. That first conversation, I caught up with him for lunch, and since then he’s just been an amazing part of my life,” Hatchard said.
“He accepts me and Georgie, and my little family.
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As she and Georgie expect their first child, he is on call for any house improvements or fixes required. He is fully integrated back into their lives.
“Something goes wrong at our house, he’s coming over to fix it, and always lending a hand. I think going through all these things as a child, I kind of lost that side of him. I didn’t see that caring side,” Hatchard said.
“I think being able to mature and become older and learn different things about him, and really connect with him on that deeper level has meant a lot to me.”
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Together they turned Hatchard’s shed into a fully kitted-out gym, and now, it’s time to build a deck.
“He is one of the most patient people I know. I don’t get that from him, so he will just sit there until I learn how to do it,” Hatchard said.
“I’m really excited to take on this next challenge with him. It does really show me that he does care, and he does support. He’s amazing with Georgie as well, and he really actually wants to get to know her, and she absolutely loves him too.
“I’m just so thrilled that I was able to reconnect with him and he’s having such an impact on my life now.”
