Carlton's Darcy Vescio reflects on their own journey, and the AFLW's future

Last December, a few weeks out from the 2022 AFLW season, Carlton superstar Darcy Vescio publicly announced they were non-binary.

Vescio was used to setting themself apart on the field, but now they were suddenly standing in the spotlight for deeply personal reasons.

Five months on, sitting in the resounding silence of the off-season, they've had some time to reflect.

«It's been a really different few months to be honest,» Vescio told The W with Sharni and Sam podcast.

«I'd never really thought about my own gender identity that much before the last couple of years.

»Perhaps I've had the privilege of not considering my gender all that much, or feeling like it's something I have to interrogate daily.

«But it got to a point where I knew it within myself, and I talked to my partner, then I was bursting to tell other people.

»And that was probably the roughest patch because I was quite nervous and didn't really know how people would respond.

«So to be able to do that and have the response I did was really special.»

Vescio said they're still being surprised by how the decision to share their gender identity has affected their life — just talking about it still draws powerful emotions up to the surface.

Seeing fellow AFLW player Tori Groves-Little come out as non-binary just before Vescio did was hugely significant.

«I messaged them straight away, because I was so happy seeing they'd shared that; it made a really big difference to how I felt… I'm even getting a bit emotional talking about it,» Vescio said.

Since their announcement, Vescio said they've become more comfortable expressing emotion.

«If I look at the last five months, I don't think I've ever cried this much in my life,» Vescio said.

«I'm usually someone that, if I cry, I'm out