Erin Phillips
Erin Phillips
AFL Women’s Legend
Erin Phillips is a two-time Premiership Captain for the Adelaide Crows in 2017 and 2019. Erin has also won the AFLW Best & Fairest on two occasions, two Players’ Association MVP awards as well as two best-on-ground performances for her Grand Final triumphs.
A dual Olympian, Erin played professional basketball at the highest level in the WNBA and has taken on a role as a development coach with the Dallas Wings. A representative of the Australian Opals, Erin experienced great team success throughout her basketball career which included two WNBA titles, a World Championship gold medal in 2006 and an Olympic Silver medal in 2008.
Erin is married to American former basketball player Tracy Gahan. The two of them met when they became teammates on the Adelaide Lightening in the WNBL in 2006 and became a couple the following year. They married in 2014 in the United States before same-sex marriage was legalised in Australia. They have three children: son and daughter twins born in 2016, and a second son born in 2019. Erin and Gahan have split their time between living in Texas and Australia.
Erin was one of many female athletes in Australia who advocated for the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the lead-up to the nationwide marriage law postal survey in late 2017. The positive support found in the survey led to its legalisation before the end of that year. While Erin does not see herself as a leading advocate for LGBT rights, she has presented her marriage openly and wants to be seen as a role model to others in this respect, in particular to young girls and both male and female athletes.