Darcy Vescio

Vescio began playing football with their brother at the age of five. Vescio was a participant in the Auskick program. They stopped playing competitive football at the age of fourteen, when they were no longer allowed to play with the youth boys team. Vescio has represented Victoria at the AFL Women's National Championship in 2013 and 2015. ==AFL Women's career==

Vescio was signed as a marquee player by in July 2016, ahead of the league's inaugural 2017 season. They made their debut in round 1, 2017, in the club and the league's inaugural match at IKON Park against . They kicked a game-high four goals in the match, which was more than Collingwood's overall team score. This was acknowledged by the AFL Players Association, highlighting Vescio as Player of the Week. At the conclusion of the 2017 season, Vescio was the AFLW leading goalkicker, was nominated by their teammates for the AFLW Players’ Most Valuable Player Award, and was listed in the 2017 All-Australian team. Their mark in front of goal in round five against was voted by fans as Mark of the Year. They played in all seven of Carlton's matches that season and kicked five goals, tying Tayla Harris and sharing the club's leading goalkicker award with her. For the 2019 season, Vescio was elevated to the leadership group alongside Shae Audley, Kerryn Harrington and Sarah Hosking, with Bri Davey serving as captain and Katie Loynes as vice-captain. They signed a two-year contract with on 10 June 2021, after it was revealed the team had conducted a mass re-signing of 13 players. Vescio was awarded with their second All-Australian blazer, named on the interchange bench. Vescio achieved selection in Champion Data's 2021 AFLW All-Star stats team, after leading the league for goals in the 2021 AFL Women's season, totalling 1.8 a game. ==Statistics==

: Statistics are correct to the end of the 2024 season ==Personal life==

Vescio was born and raised in the Victorian town of Markwood near Wangaratta and attended school at Wangaratta High School. They previously worked part-time at the Carlton Football Club as a graphic designer. Vescio is of Italian and Chinese descent through their paternal and maternal grandparents respectively, who immigrated from Calabria and Guangdong. Vescio is an AFL Multicultural Ambassador On 29 December 2021, Vescio publicly came out as non-binary and announced the decision to change their gender pronouns to they/them, expressing that "[s]haring this feels a bit daunting but brings me a lot of warmth and happiness". == References ==