Logan’s Dekota Baron is getting ready to make her professional AFLW debut.
Baron, 19, will pull on the red and gold Gold Coast Suns jersey for the team’s first game of the season versus the Western Bulldogs at People First Stadium at Carrara on Saturday, 15 August.
The 178cm forward started playing Auskick at Springwood Pumas when she was 5, encouraged by her nan, who is a diehard Brisbane Lions supporter.
Baron also fell in love with the game and chose a high school that offered specialised AFL coaching and strength training.
“I ended up going to Park Ridge because there was the AFL program,” Baron said.
Deputy principal Craig McBrien said the school’s AFL Queensland-endorsed excellence program meant students could study AFL as a subject, covering everything from on-field skills to nutrition.
He said the school community was “super excited” when Baron was called at pick 15 in the first round of the Queensland AFL Women draft in December, especially considering she had balanced the pressure of her draft year with completing Year 12.
“It was a massive year for her,” Mr McBrien said.
He praised Baron as a quiet and unassuming leader who put in a lot of effort.
“She worked hard at her craft and built that over time,” he said.
For Baron, the school program was the catalyst for her professional aspirations.
“I got a lot more confident with my football because I wasn’t just playing club on a weekend,” she said.
“I was also training at school and playing during the week.
“I’ve met like some of my closest friends through going there. It was fantastic.”
It was one of her school teammates that put Baron on the pathway to playing for the Gold Coast Suns.
“One of my friends [from] Grade 8, she was a part of the Suns Academy and I had no idea what it was,” Baron said.
“So, she told me about it and I decided to give it a go.”
The Suns Academy is widely regarded as one of Australia’s premier AFL talent development pipelines.
Baron thrived with the extra coaching, becoming known for her. athleticism and elite contested marking.
She was picked in the Queensland team in 2021, although the games were cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
She earned All Australian honours in Under 16s and Under 18s.
A defining moment was when she was named player of the series at the Under 16 national championships.
Most recently, Baron claimed back-to-back premierships with the Southport Sharks in the QAFLW in 2024 and 2025.
Playing for the Suns will realise a childhood dream for Baron.
Kick off is at 2.05pm.
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