WHEN Lucy Amon is asked about her mum, she tears up.

"I'll probably start crying," she said when asked about the impact her mother Katrina Amon has had on her.

"As I explained to my own daughter when reading her the Evonne Goolagong book the other day, they're happy tears."

Both proud Noonuccal women from Quandamooka country in the area now known as Moreton Bay, Lucy works at North Melbourne as the Head of First Nations Strategy and Engagement while Katrina is St Kilda's Indigenous Player Development Manager. Lucy's brother Karl plays for Hawthorn, and was formerly at Port Adelaide.

Between them, the three Amons – Lucy and Katrina in particular – are literally shaping Indigenous programs across both the AFL and AFLW.

While Lucy and Katrina have different roles – Katrina's focus is on hands-on programs, club-wide initiatives and day-to-day pastoral care of players, while Lucy's role includes more long-term, strategic and external-facing projects such as the Roos' First Nations Strategy – there is a lot of overlap, particularly when it comes to supporting players and incorporating First Nations culture throughout their respective clubs.

"My job's mainly with to work with the players, we've got six First Nations men and two women," Katrina said.

"It's helping the younger ones to adapt to coming to the club and making them feel welcome and creating a safe environment for them.

"We have the Yawa Room, so when [the players] debut they put their photo up, and that's got all 35 of the First Nations players who have played for us. That's a really safe space for them to go as well.

"It's trying to make them feel they're part of the group and feel safe here, especially the young ones away from home."

Despite not being in a designated player development role, Lucy has naturally become a mentor for Mia King, a proud Jawoyn woman.

"I probably have a yarn with Mia most weeks. It's just those check-ins and building relationships, it's getting the temperature checks," Lucy said.

"It's got to do with men's and women's business as well. I hold that space and am that person from a cultural sense for Mia. When we're talking about cultural safety for Mia, whether it's at a guernsey photo shoot or managing media's access to her in the lead-in to First Nations Round, there are those kinds of protection elements as well.

"It's having female figures that you know have similar lived experience and you instantly have that bond and connection, that you don't need to build, it's just there, it exists. Mia and I had that from our first encounter."

Similarly, Katrina has a close bond with all of St Kilda's First Nations players across the men's and women's program.

The First Nations community she worked so hard to foster has become a point of pride for the club and has helped players such as Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera through their battles with homesickness.

It's also helped St Kilda's first First Nations AFLW player, proud Warumungu woman J'Noemi Anderson, flourish as both a person and a player. Referred to as 'Aunty K' by the youngster, Katrina took Anderson under her wing, introducing her to the group of First Nations men's players already at the club to give her a sense of community.

"They bring me great joy," Katrina said of Anderson and St Kilda's other First Nations player, proud Kamilaroi woman Natalie Plane.

"With J'Noemi, I did her interview for when she was recruited. I went to her art show and got to know her before she started and then she came and stayed with us while she was here and training.

"I feel really close to her. I feel her journey has been really fantastic. She's gone from being very shy and introverted to doing some public speaking now. She's getting really cheeky, which is good. I think as with her journey, her football has also really developed and I think last year she finished really well. She's developed that confidence, which is really beautiful to see.

"We've really supported her well… and having Nat come into the program - Nat really supports her and mentors her as well. So I think that's why she's flourished, just that safe environment and doing little things that make them feel safe. 

"Natalie is just cheeky, she's just like a really good mate. She's a leader, she's a leader with the other girls. They're both having a really good input in the AFLW from a First Nations point of view."

As well as the personal link, the professional link between the two women is very well known throughout the League, with Katrina also known to pop into the Hawks' rooms after games to support Karl.

While at different clubs in different roles, the mother and daughter duo share information and advice freely.

"It's a bit of a laugh to be honest. When we play St Kilda, within the club it's labelled as the 'Amon Cup'," Lucy said.

"She'll send me an email in a professional sense and she'll open with 'Hi Lucy' and I'll reply 'Hi Mum!'.

"I'll often jump on the phone to her with a question and she'll be so open to sharing and vice versa.

"We do have different skill sets and we both lean on each other for that. It's a really beautiful way of doing it.

"I say that St Kilda is almost Mum's third child!"

It's not a one-way street, with the younger Amon also teaching her mum a thing or two.

While Katrina's focus is on the players and is very hands-on internally, Lucy works in strategy and has a focus on bigger picture initiatives outside the club. Lucy keeps Katrina "modern", with her love of structure in direct contrast to Katrina’s more "freestyle" approach.

Both former teachers, the pair lean on each other for advice and support, with Katrina instrumental in encouraging Lucy to make the jump to working in the footy world.

"The way I build authentic relationships and engage with our stakeholders, that has been taught to me by Mum," Lucy said.

"She's the reason I can exist in both worlds. I can exist with First Nations people and hold my own with mob and understand the complexities and nuances with those types of relationships, but then I can hold my own in a whitefella world.

"You've got to fight the fight in a really positive way and I think Mum does that so beautifully."

The only woman among the 18 Indigenous Player Development Managers across the AFL/W clubs, Katrina has blazed a trail not just for women but for her daughter.

"She's iconic," Lucy said of her mother.

"Mum was in the first iteration of the IPDMs. She – along with many other IPDMs – really paved the way for people like me. Without them, my role wouldn't exist.

"I really respect that work that Mum does."

That work at the Saints can't be overstated. Since Katrina started, the club's First Nations program has become a real point of pride, as well as a cultural cornerstone.

Not just focused on the playing groups, Katrina regularly holds quizzes for staff about First Nations language, hosts cultural awakening sessions, and organises opportunities to try native foods.

"An important part of my role is to embed First Nations culture into the club, and I think we've done that really well because we've had buy-in from every single department. It's organic and it's just happened," Katrina said.

"We need to celebrate First Nations people all years round. We use language, and people are interested. I start all my emails, and I think Lucy does too, with 'yura', [hello] and people turn around and ask if they can use it too and if it's appropriate for them to use.

"That's what we really try to do: educate and celebrate."

So strong is the commitment to First Nations education through every part of St Kilda, that senior men's coach Ross Lyon even ordered the men's players in on a day off to be involved in the club's First Nations Family Day in February.

"I thought we were going to just have the First Nations players, and then Ross came up to me and said 'no we'll have everyone in, I'll give them Thursday off and they can come in on Saturday [to help run the community clinic]," Katrina said.

"He goes: 'this is reconciliation, this isn't a tick-the-box, this is reconciliation'. So when you have your head coach saying that and leading that, that's amazing."

The strength of the club's First Nations program is also an attractive proposition for players moving clubs.

"I think they would know that we value First Nations culture, it's really important to us. It's part of our ethos, it's part of who we are now," Katrina said.

"So I think it would be appealing for them to come and we'd hope so! We'd like to get more."

Bringing past players back into the North Melbourne fold has been a real focus for Lucy, as well as helping educate every level of the club's hierarchy in cultural competence.

Working with Phil Krakouer and Byron Pickett during 2025 was a particular highlight, seeing firsthand how much the club's First Nations former players meant to fans.

"I know the impact that sport can have on community. For blackfellas, family is number one and then footy is really not far behind it," Lucy said.

"I was walking the boundary line with Phil to get to his spot [for the centenary ceremony] and he was worried he wasn't going to make it because everyone wanted to stop and get a photo and just express their love for him. He didn't want to say no!

"Byron Pickett came back [for Sir Doug Nicholls Round] and I was right on the boundary line with him walking him to his half-time interview, and the applause for him! I was watching just the utter love these fans have for him. I was filming it for his family because I knew how important it was for his kids and grandchildren to see."

When asked about how to increase Indigenous participation in the AFLW it was clear the Amons had already put their heads together.

"Lucy and I have had this conversation recently,” Katrina said.

"I think having the [Indigenous] All Stars game, the first in 10 years, has encouraged it, and I think the fact the AFLW players were asked to go there made a big difference and they got to feel part of it.

"I was part of it as well, and it was an amazing feeling. I think the inclusion and visibility in events like that is really important."

Between them, the three Amons are fighting the fight in their own ways.

"We've come a long way but there’s still a long way to go. We saw this year through the racial abuse levelled at Nasiah and the commentary around Welcome to Country ceremonies, we’ve still got work to do to achieve a truly equal and inclusive future. But I’m confident we’re taking steps in the right direction," Katrina said.

"I have a son, [Lucy] has a brother that plays AFL football and that has given both of us a really good insight into our jobs, particularly with the players.

"People say 'oh, you must be proud of Karl because he plays AFL', but I'm actually equally proud of both my children because they have both embraced their First Nations culture and they're working hard to further it.

"I really want my kids and my grandkids to embrace their First Nations culture, and Karl does it as well, he was on the AFLPA committee and I'm really proud of that."

For Lucy, it's the strength and support of her mother that guides her in her work.

But while inspired by Katrina, she is forging her own path and motivated by her own children.

"What Mum's taught me is that it's really hard to be in this space," Lucy said.

"You do feel lonely at times, but what you're doing is of such importance for future generations.

"To create any change on any level is really hard.

"We don't live in a society that has open arms for First Nations people and culture.

"That's what Mum always speaks to me about: that it's future generations where we're going to see change and I wholeheartedly agree with that."