After playing for Sydney Football Club last season, I'm about to move to Denmark to play in their competition for a year. It's challenging trying to train and study so I've been taking it slow at uni - I transferred into teaching in my second year and I'm now in my fifth year of doing a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education (Secondary).
I have also been working as a student ambassador, which has been an excellent opportunity to develop skills like public speaking and confidence in front of an audience. Presenting at schools, at career events and post-graduate evenings about Macquarie has also taught me how to connect with people of different ages. I like to have balance in my life, and it's been great to have all these rich experiences.
I grew up in a very sporty family. I have three older brothers and an older sister and I always wanted to be outside kicking the ball. It brought me so much joy. At four years of age I begged my parents to let me play soccer. They agreed and I was the only girl in the local team. I was very passionate about it from the beginning and started playing representative football at 10 for Sutherland. I then went on to play for NSW at age 14.
As I got older my dreams got bigger.
When I was 15 I started training with Western Sydney Wanderers, made the under 20s Australian team in 2019 and then signed for Perth Glory and played for two seasons with them. And then I got my first international cap with Ireland (my mum is Irish) in an international friendly.
Injuries happen, disappointments happen. Sport is not a forever thing, but there is no age limit on education.
I'm so pleased with the evolution of the women's game. When I was 15 there was barely any money being made in Australia but fast forward to 2023 and now there's a minimum wage for women and a lot more money to be made in the game.
In Denmark I'm going to live just outside of Copenhagen. I'll be training at least five days a week but I'm still going to be studying online. I don't know any Danish but it's always good to keep growing and learning. Apart from the captain of the team, who I played with in Perth, I do not know any others Aussies there. Maybe I should send Crown Princess Mary a message!
For anyone else trying to combine sport with study, it's really helpful to have other passions because injuries and disappointments happen. It's a rollercoaster ride being an athlete.
I am still only 23 so I'm putting a lot of time and effort into my football career right now but obviously I am not going to be running around a football field for 20 years. It's important to think about life after sport. Sport is not a forever thing but there's no age limit on education.
