Steph Catley

[Murfy1]

Rio Olympic Games 2016: Australian soccer player Stephanie Catley one of sport’s shining lights

 

May 20, 2016

Megan Miller

 

STEPHANIE Catley has the world at her feet. Not only is she living the dream of making soccer her livelihood, she’s about to take centre stage at the greatest sporting show on Earth.

Almost four years after making her debut for the national women’s soccer team, the star defender and her fellow Matildas will pull on the green and gold for August’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

It’s a pinch-yourself moment for the Melbourne athlete, who aptly turned 22 on Australia Day this year.

Catley might not be a household name, but she’s one of soccer’s brightest lights.

At 20, she captained Melbourne Victory to the local W-League title in 2013-14. She won the W-League Young Player of the Year two seasons running, and has become a regular starter for the Matildas.

In January, she helped Melbourne City create history in its inaugural W-League season. Not only did the team take out the 2015-16 championship, beating Sydney FC 4-1 at AAMI Park, it had won all 12 of its lead-up games to complete a perfect season.

Catley’s now in the US playing for Orlando Pride in the National Women’s Soccer League, having spent two NWSL seasons with the Portland Thorns and being named its Newcomer of the Year in 2014.

In March, she was part of the Matildas’ 20-player squad to book a place in Rio after a triumphant qualifying campaign in Osaka, Japan. The team hasn’t featured in the Olympics since 2004 and last year overcame a bitter pay dispute between Football Federation Australia and the players’ union that threatened to derail Olympic qualification plans.

The draw for Rio sees the Matildas face Canada first but also powerhouse Germany in their bid to claim Australia’s first football medal at the Games.

Lucky that Catley lives, breathes and sleeps soccer. She even prefers to spend rare days off on a field running laps and refining her technique.

Catley’s Melbourne base is the family home in bayside Seaford with her beloved corgi Bentley. She grew up in Bentleigh East, playing sport at school and with brother Daniel, 24.

“I was always sporty, a real tomboy and sports nut,” Catley says. “I found myself doing athletics, tennis and a few other sports, but once I started playing soccer it was just kind of set from there.”

She loves the light and shade of the game, which she started playing in the junior leagues for East Bentleigh and Sandringham.

“I love that you can be aggressive and strong,” she says, “but also technical and have a bit of finesse about your game and be crafty. It’s also a team game, which is what I love about sport, connecting with people, making best friends and feeling like a family, especially when you’re playing for your country.”

The left-footer started her career as a midfielder but moved to defence during an under-17s practice match when she filled in for an injured player.

“The coach slotted me in and it ended up feeling very natural and I’ve been playing there ever since.”

The single star — “I’m married to soccer” — juggles playing commitments with studying for a Bachelor of Education online through Swinburne University, with a view to teaching at primary schools in the future.

“I’ve always loved working with kids,” she says. “I’m not entirely sure what I want to specialise in but I’m focusing on primary school and will probably head into the PE sector down the track.”

For now, it’s soccer all the way. Her weekly training schedule is gruelling — six days on the pitch as well as three sessions in the gym. Training camps are even more intensive with pre-dawn wake-up calls, twice-daily on-field sessions and recoveries, plus tactical meetings and analysis into the evenings.

“It’s like a fulltime job basically, which is pretty cool,” Catley says. “It’s like being a professional footballer and that, in Australia, is really special.”

Catley, sponsored by Nike, believes women’s soccer — and female sport in general — is finally getting the exposure it deserves.

Channel 7 broadcast the Matildas’ five Olympic qualifying matches live from Japan on its digital channel, 7mate, averaging a peak national audience of 354,000. Seven West Media boss Tim Worner says the ratings show a hunger for women’s sport.

“Our audience got right behind the Matildas when they delivered their remarkable success at the Olympic qualifiers,” Worner says.

Catley credits the Matildas’ 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup campaign in Canada with bringing the sport to the forefront. The team reached the quarter-finals before losing to defending champ Japan from a late goal, but the exposure saw a number of players pick up contracts with overseas clubs.

“It was exciting for us because we didn’t really see it happen while we were over there as we were so focused, but when we got home you could really feel the shift in attention and interest,” she says.

LAST year, Catley also had the honour of gracing the cover of the EA Sports FIFA 16computer game, the first time in 22 editions of the game that a female player had been featured. Catley appeared alongside Argentine football legend Lionel Messi on the cover after more than nine million soccer fans took part in a vote to see their favourite stars on the cover, a world first for the global franchise.

“There were three of us up for the cover (Catley, Katrina Gorry and Kyah Simon),” Catley said. “It was amazing for (fans) to want to have a Matilda on the front. It was a massive step forward and big recognition of how far we’ve come.”

What would an Olympic medal do for the team?

“Qualifying is such an amazing thing — it’s been a while since the team’s even qualified,” she says.

“This team wanted to be there in Rio so bad. We think we can medal and do really well. Personally, it’s incredible to play for your country. Every time you put the shirt on to represent your country, no matter what game or what tournament, it’s something so special.”

Catley spends up to five months a year playing in the NWSL in the US. She says Americans hold women’s soccer in high regard, particularly in Oregon, where her former team, the Portland Thorns, attracts the same fervour as the men’s team, Portland Timbers.

“The league has lots of amazing fans with high expectations of their teams to do well and players to be at their best,” she says.

“You’re able to get the best out of yourself.

“I remember coming back from my first US season a different player and stronger physically but also mentally.”

Living away from home does have its dark times and bouts of homesickness.

At halftime in the Matildas’ World Cup exit game last year, Catley had a pain-numbing injection in her foot after slamming her heel into the ground. Scans later revealed plantar fasciitis and bone bruising, leaving Catley sidelined and in a boot to rest and heal.

“I was rehabbing but wanted to be playing,” she says. “Because I wasn’t playing I got a bit homesick.

“Usually you’re so busy with football and your job, you don’t have time to be homesick. It does get hard. I miss my mum and my dog. It’s all worth it though. The league there is great.”

Being a role model and a Matildas fan favourite is something Catley takes in her stride.

“There’s no pressure (to be a role model) but it’s something I feel is special,” she says. “Kids look up to us and want to be like us or be in the Matildas. It’s exciting that kids look up to female sportspeople because when I was growing up, I didn’t really have access to females being covered in the mainstream media. It’s interesting now with social media there’s so many ways you can interact with fans and I meet kids all the time at clinics who are so excited to meet you. It’s really cool.”

Catley doesn’t think she’s superstitious at all, until she gives it some proper consideration.

“I always thought I wasn’t but after this W-League season, we went undefeated and I consciously started trying not to change things. I was always the last one out on the field for every single training session and didn’t want to change that, so even if I was ready first, I’d wait until everybody was out there then I’d run out. It was funny and people started picking up on it and saying, ‘Don’t come out yet.’

“Other little things like eating mum’s spaghetti bolognese before a home game have also become a bit of a tradition.”

And there’ll no doubt be a big appetite to see the Matildas waltz on to the pitch hungry for Games glory come August.

 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/olympics-2016/rio-olympic-games-2016-australian-soccer-player-stephanie-catley-one-of-sports-shining-lights/news-story/8696f25b60b63372396bfdb365afffa0

[Hackett]

Matched her on Tinder once.

[luka74]

Playing at Seattle this NWSL season with Fishlock, Taylor, Barnes and Williams, along with Beverly Yanez who was with us for the 16/17 season.