A Canberra dad has captured possibly the sporting photograph of the year.
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Public servant and dad-of-two Luke Hickey is usually at the ready with his camera, on the sidelines of the AFL games played by the Tuggeranong Lions Under 10 girls, which are coached by his wife Eugenie.
Luke takes some amazing action shots of the games but last Sunday at Stirling Oval he captured a candid moment that says everything about sportsmanship.
It was a sweet photograph of Weston Creek Molonglo Wildcats player Gemma Klose, mid-game, tying up the shoelace for an opposition player, Tuggeranong Lions' Lily Tompkins, eight.
It looks like a moment of rest but it was actually in the thick of the game.
"The best thing about this pic was that Lily was in the goal square as the fullback and the ball was only about 30 metres away coming forward, but they were so focused on helping out," Luke said, of the Wildcats players.
"The whole game had been really competitive but was played in such good spirit and this was the perfect example of what happens every weekend!"
The photograph has been shared far and wide, including by AFL Women's on their Facebook page, with more than 4200 likes and counting.
Gemma's mum Kylie was thrilled the moment had been captured.
"There's so much horrible stuff out there, so much negativity, that it is so nice to see people interested in kindness," she said.
Gemma, 9, is a year three student at Mawson Primary School.
Kylie says the photograph sums up her daughter's caring nature.
"She is the most beautiful, caring, kind person - I might be biased," she said, with a laugh.
She and her husband Jason were extremely proud of their daughter.
"We are absolutely proud of her," Kylie said.
Lily's mum Dorothy was thrilled the photograph went viral "for all the right reasons - such a kind and generous act".
Sunday was a particularly cold and blustery day to play footy but the girls, from both teams, still played their heart out.
"Gemma loves it," Kylie said, of the game.
It all shows girl power is alive and well out on the suburban footy fields of Canberra each weekend.