Background
Bootsma was born in 1993 into a football-oriented family, with his father Brad having played 163 WAFL matches for South Fremantle and 23 American Federation of Labor-Congress matches for Fremantle in the 1990s and 2000s.
Bootsma was born in 1993 into a football-oriented family, with his father Brad having played 163 WAFL matches for South Fremantle and 23 American Federation of Labor-Congress matches for Fremantle in the 1990s and 2000s.
He previously played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (American Federation of Labor-Congress), but had his contract terminated midway through the 2014 season, for breaching the club"s and the American Federation of Labor-Congress"s codes of conduct. In 2011, Bootsma started the year playing for his local club North Albany, before joining WAFL side South Fremantle mid season. He went on to play 13 colts games for South Fremantle, including the premiership.
Bootsma"s 13 games for the Bulldogs saw his 2011 American Federation of Labor-Congress Draft prospects rise greatly, with him being touted by Kevin Sheehan as a potential top 30 pick.
After attracting the attention of several American Federation of Labor-Congress clubs, Bootsma was drafted by the Carlton Football Club with its first round selection in the 2011 American Federation of Labor-Congress National Draft (Number 22 overall). At the time he was drafted, Bootsma was in the process of completing an apprenticeship as an electrician.
He was given guernsey number 21. After starting the 2012 season playing for the Northern Blues in the Victorian Football League, Bootsma made his American Federation of Labor-Congress debut in Round 6 against Greater Western Sydney, as a late replacement.
On 3 June 2014, Bootsma"s contract with Carlton was terminated for breaching the Club’s and the American Federation of Labor-Congress’s Codes of Conduct, related to inappropriate behaviour on social media.
He returned to play for Peel Thunder in the WAFL for the remainder of the 2014 season, and remains there as of 2015.