By Euroa, for Euroa: Magpie midcourter Eliza Hoare is a rare homegrown talent at the club

Since the pandemic subsided, though, the Magpies are right back on the upper perch with the best, and as with any sporting organisation, there has been an almighty swathe of personnel changes in the past five years.

However, versatile midcourter and homegrown product Eliza Hoare isn’t one of them.

The 22-year-old had a full-scale introduction to the club from an early age with a parent and two siblings spread across football and netball, which gave her the launching pad to A-grade action before too long.

“I played under-12s with Euroa at probably 10 years of age, after doing NetSetGo before that when I was younger,” Hoare said.

“My mum played here and so did my older sister and, with my brother playing football, that’s how I got into it all.

“Mum started in Melbourne, but would have moved to Euroa when she was in Year 12, playing there and then places like Violet Town; she played a fair while around the area.

“My sister played all through the juniors there into B-reserve for a couple of years as well.”

The Magpies, by the time Hoare was making her way up the junior ranks, were by no means a powerful force in the top divisions.

Aged 14, the budding prospect was given her first set of chances in A-grade, albeit with little on-court success during a difficult period.

The club’s prospects could have been on the way up, but COVID-19 interrupted those — among many other — plans.

“I only played a couple of games (in A-grade) when I was 14, but I got more consistently picked once I came out of 17-and-under, so it’s been five or six solid years,” Hoare said.

“Kelly Hill was probably the biggest influence for me back then. I had her as a junior coach and we were pretty light on numbers, so I got to play with the older ages.

“She was the one who really helped my development in transitioning to playing seniors.

“We started recruiting some people and were going okay for a little while, but the pandemic cut all of that short.

“It definitely made me more keen (to return) and I realised how much I miss it when it’s not there to play every week.”

Nowadays, as an established member of Euroa’s top-flight squad, the winger has done the hard yards.

After moving away for a period, Hoare’s resolve was more than tested after moving to Geelong for uni, requiring a significant two-way commute just to play — and, more often than not in the early going, it wasn’t pretty on the scoreboard.

Some of the very same people who piqued her interest in the game to begin with would become crucial support in the years since.

“You know when you’re sitting down a lot and driving that you wind up with a few niggles here and there; the long drives when you were getting beaten were the toughest part,” Hoare said.

“Living in Melbourne as I do now, it makes it a bit easier for me, but it can be hard trying to be fit and play and all that. Hearing about these new recruits definitely helped the motivation.

“It is quite difficult sometimes when there’s no massive group down here to motivate you to train, but I have a good mate down here who helps us organise to do some running and light ball work, then we all train once a month in Euroa on a Thursday.

“I’m lucky my parents are there and I don’t have to do the full trip in a day because I can stay the Friday night before a game. Some of the other girls are doing the full Saturday commute and I can’t imagine how they’d go.

“Mum and Dad come to every single game and it’s a nice excuse to come home and see them; I love coming back and seeing family, so it doesn’t feel like much of a struggle for me.”

While the club has wholly transformed around Hoare in her time with her hometown Magpies, the one true local in their A-grade squad could reap the ultimate benefit come September.

Having made a grand final last year and looking more than primed for another deep run in 2024, Euroa sits two games clear on top with a month to play before again becoming a force to be reckoned with in finals.

Hoare won’t fixate on such goals just yet, though, with plenty of formidable foes still to stave off.

“I think we’re definitely a shot to at least play in a granny, but it’s hard,” Hoare said.

“Echuca’s always extremely good in September and Mooroopna’s very challenging for us.

“I think we can definitely have a crack, but with probably six very strong teams in finals, they’ll all be tough from the first one to the last one.

“I think I said to the girls recently that I’d won more games with them in two years than I had in the six before that.

“It’s such a great club and winning and losing wasn’t why we’d come back, but it’s nice to be on the other end of it now.”