THIS century from Keisha Darroch carried extra history for the Dragons, who evolved from one of the city's oldest football clubs.
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The under-19 girls' captain is East Point's first female footballer to have played 100 games.
The Dragons emerged under the Golden Point branding and became the junior club's focus almost a decade ago when the boys teams went into recess due to dwindling numbers.
Golden Point was one of the Ballarat Football League's founding youth girls clubs and joined Redan as the first Ballarat Football Netball League clubs to enter open-age women's team in a restructured Victorian Women's Football League in 2014. The VWFL was disbanded in 2016 with a move back to regional competitions.
The Dragons relaunched under the club's East Point branding in 2022 and, coming out of pandemic restrictions, was looking to rebuild and offer pathways to junior players.
The gravity in what Darroch has achieved has not been lost on her. She was able to chalk up the milestone at the Dragons' adopted home ground Eastern Oval on May 19.
"I started playing when I was nine in the under-12s and loved it. I love the East Point Dragons and have been there from the start," Darroch said. "I have been lucky enough to be picked for squads over the years to represent my club.
"My 100th game was exciting and especially memorable because it was with my club."
Darroch grew up surrounded by football with her dad coaching and her brothers player.
Her inspiration has been AFLW veteran Kaitlyn Ashmore, who was part of Mount Clear College's female football program before becoming one of the league's founding players.
Ashmore played with Melbourne and Western Bulldogs in AFL exhibition matches and was drafted to Brisbane Lions for the inaugural AFLW season in 2017. The midfielder has since also played for North Melbourne and Hawthorn.
The Dragons, East Point's female football arm, is based at White Flat Oval, which has long been the spiritual home for Golden Point.
