It was a dream come true for one of Western Sydney’s rising young female football stars Courtney Nevin who took in all the sights and sounds of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with the Matildas in her stride.

The 19-year-old wore the Green and Gold kit with pride as she played thirty plus minutes in the Bronze medal match that unfortunately went the United States of America’s way.

“It was definitely an experience I will never forget, running out onto that pitch taking on the U.S.A. and lining up against an idol of mine, Alex Morgan is something that will live with me forever.”

Asked if the young gun was stunned to see Canada lift the Gold Medal, Nevin was a little shocked.

“I was definitely shocked to see Canada win Gold but good on them as they worked extremely hard to get it and they did have a quality squad.”

It was one of the many significant moments for the young former Blacktown Spartans star who took in each and every magical moment.

“There were so many quality moments, just being part of such an amazing squad at the Olympic Village was also something I will never forget.

“The Village itself was one of my favourite places to stay during the two months I was away from home.

“I know we only got to stay there for a week, but it was something else, being around top athletes from around the world and just spotting them all walking around was pretty cool.”

As expected, COVID restrictions and protocols were top of the list as the Matildas along with every other athlete and team followed to a tee.

“It was definitely high on everyone’s list, we’d have to do a COVID test each and every morning before breakfast, we wore makes each time we left our hotel rooms, wore gloves while serving ourselves food as well as social distancing with the 1.5 metre ruling.”

Currently in quarantine following her Matildas journey, the Olympian stated that she’s eagerly anticipating the up-and-coming W-League season with the Wanderers but has set her sights on hopefully playing abroad.

“I am firmly focused on the upcoming W-League season, and I do have dreams of playing overseas also following my commitments here.”

The former Football NSW Institute graduate did state that she’d look at playing in the National Premier Leagues NSW Women’s competition once more should a deal overseas not eventuate.

Nevin finished up with seven appearances with the Blacktown Spartans as she linked up with yet another fellow Olympian Kyra Cooney-Cross in the 2021 NPL NSW Women’s competition.

What a magical few months it’s been for Matilda and proud Australian Olympian Kyra Cooney-Cross.

After finishing her W-League season with the Melbourne Victory, the ace midfielder joined the Blacktown Spartans and played five matches in the National Premier Leagues NSW Women’s top tier competition before being summoned on international duty representing the Green and Gold at the recent Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Currently back in Sydney where the 19-year-old is undertaking the mandatory quarantine following her unforgettable trip to Japan, Cooney-Cross was overawed by the amazing experiences she shared whilst representing her country.

“I had an amazing experience, just being part of the Olympic Games on a whole is something I will never forget.

“I would have to say that my most memorable moments in Tokyo were seeing the Girls beat Great Britain to get into the Semi-Finals and make history.

“Along with that, getting onto that pitch against the U.S.A and getting to see and play against Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe in person was unbelievable.

“I also cannot go past my official Olympics debut against New Zealand in match one as well as the experience of living in the Olympic Village with so many other high-quality athletes.”

Speaking of which, the former Spartans star had the pleasure of seeing a handful of world superstars during her stay at the Olympic Village.

“I really enjoyed being at the Village – it definitely was a really cool experience being around other athletes every day and experiencing what the Olympic Village life was like.

“I saw a handful of stars such as Ash Barty, Sam Stosur, Nyjah Huston, Patty Mills, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Naomi Osaka to name a few.”

As expected, tight restrictions, social distancing, and a whole lot of COVID safe protocols were put in place for each athlete to adhere to in keeping the virus at bay.

“It was definitely at a high level.

“When we were staying at hotels prior to the Village it was pretty strict, we were only allowed outside if we were either going to train or play our warm-up matches so most of the time we were stuck inside.

“We had COVID tests conducted daily, we ate the same foods for weeks, we wore masks everywhere and had to be 1.5m apart.

“We still had strict rules when we entered the Village but we made the most of being outside in the sun while we had some fantastic food options in the dining hall.”

Coming on and playing as a substitute in each of the Matildas’ six matches was a great achievement by the Queenslander who has now earmarked the new W-League season as the next big priority in her football journey before hopefully heading overseas in search of a professional contract.

“I am doing one more W-League season with the Melbourne Victory as I am still under contract and once that’s done, I am certainly thinking of heading overseas.”

For Blacktown Spartans’ Maja Markovski, 2021 has been a big year with plenty to be excited about.

After winning the W-League Championship with Melbourne Victory, the 19-year old made the move to Sydney to join the Blacktown Spartans to take part in the NPL New South Wales Women’s 2021 season.

“It’s been interesting making the switch from Melbourne to Sydney,” she explained.

“I think it’s a lot different in a lot of ways but I’m really enjoying it so far.

“The coach, Brad, he’s made it really easy to transition and made me feel really welcome and all the girls are great and even the whole club is a very family-oriented club, so yeah I love it.”

While the NSW Government’s stay-at-home restrictions have given her a break from the field, Markovski is remaining positive about the new environment she’s chosen for this season.

“The group chat is definitely buzzing every single day.

“Our coach sets us little challenges to do like running and juggling and that kind of keeps us active as well and we definitely all keep in touch.”

As to how she has been filling her time in lockdown, Markovski has been enjoying watching football and practising a new hobby that she picked up in the last lockdown.

“I’ve definitely been watching the Euros and I am playing the guitar as well and that takes up a bit of time.

“I picked it up last year in lockdown, so haven’t been playing long at all.”

Looking to football after lockdown, Markovski and her Spartans teammates have clear goals to work towards, and with seven goals to her name already this season, there is plenty of potential for the young gun to make her mark on the competition.

“As a team, I know that we’re definitely going to try to push for finals, we’re just a bit outside of that at the moment so we have a target of points to hit.

“Individually I just want to keep improving every single game and keep scoring goals.”

-By Madeline Riley

Ambitious Blacktown Spartans Head Coach Brad Attard has stated his intent on giving the 2021 National Premier Leagues NSW Women’s season a big shake-up as his chargers go through their preseason paces for the new year.

The 28-year-old managed to resign the majority of his 2020 squad with current Western Sydney Wanderers gun Courtney Nevin the latest new inclusion in what will be an ultra-competitive team set to also contain other W-League stars such as Ashlie Crofts, Rosie Galea, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Charlotte Grant.

“We have managed to maintain over 70% of our players from last season which is a great result for the club as this shows a great buy in from the majority of the players.

“Of the players lost from the 2020 season, they include the retirement of Candice Sciberras and Alix Roberts, two players who have had stellar NPL careers along with some injuries to some key personnel, although we’re positive to see a few of them back on the park in late 2021.

“As mentioned, our major signing for the 2021 season is Courtney Nevin from the Western Sydney Wanderers – she will join a host of some amazing W-league players that we will welcome back to Blacktown.

“Recruitment is still happening however, and we are hoping to add to that W-League list in the coming weeks.”

Attard mentioned that one player that is set to have a breakout season and that will be one footballer to watch out for is rising star Annabelle Daczko.

“Annabelle Daczko is a star coming through our system, having played 9 consecutive seasons at the club and she’s only 18.

“I had the pleasure of coaching her for two seasons in the Under 15s and she is now a regular first grader. It’s been an absolute pleasure watching her develop and would be expecting another fantastic season from her.”

The Women’s NPL competition is set to kick-off a little later than usual with the Spartans taking on the mighty Sydney University SFC outfit on Sunday 4^th of April at Blacktown Football Park.

Attard stated to Football NSW the objectives he’s outlined for his squad where he hopes to lead the ladies to glory and some much needed silverware.

“Overall I would like our side to be playing a more disciplined style of football as well as managing matches a little better than what we did last year.

“How we would like that to translate is into finals football and the flame burns a bit brighter after finishing just outside the finals spots last season on ‘For and Against’.

“It’s been a real positive start to the 2021 preseason campaign, and we are happy where we sit at the moment.

“Due to the 2020 COVID interrupted season, we decided to give the players a bit over a month during the Christmas period to freshen up. Our sessions to date have been very well received by the playing group and with a late finish to the W-League season, we’ll need to ensure that the entire squad is prepared mentally and physically come round 1 against Sydney Uni.”

The success of female football has certainly been evident at the club with Attard stating that the best is yet to come at the Spartans.

“It’s been an incredible journey for me over the past 6 seasons coaching at Blacktown.

“It’s really chalk and cheese comparing to what it was then to how it is now.

“The awareness and support given to the Women’s side is brilliant.

“We have some fantastic coaches throughout the junior programs and some amazing players coming through which will hopefully transition into senior players in the coming years.”

Promising Young Matildas star striker Kyra Cooney-Cross has become the latest high profile recruit to sign for a National Premier Leagues NSW Women’s side with the Blacktown Spartans winning the race in snapping up the 18-year-old.

After a successful W-League season with the Western Sydney Wanderers, Cooney-Cross was on the hunt for keeping match fit ensuring her development continued with the Spartans recruiting the Queensland born star.

“A few people had mentioned the club to me about how great it is, their good coaching staff and having a good bunch of girls – I saw they did well in the 2019 Women’s NPL competition and jumped at the chance.

“The Women’s NPL is a high-quality competition for girls in NSW, it’s also a league where your noticed by W-League coaches too.

“It’s a league where players can express themselves, have fun and enjoy the game in a competitive environment – these were the other reasons for joining the Spartans.”

With restrictions slowly easing post COVID-19 football lockdown that took place in March, training sessions only have commenced with the hope that senior competitions were next on the list allowing players such as Cooney-Cross to recommence her journey.

“I am obviously very excited for Football to slowly be coming back.

“I’ve enjoyed the time having a break as we don’t get it very often and I think it was good for a lot of the players to have this time off so that we’ll all be back fresh and ready to go.

“I personally can’t wait to be back on the pitch and being with a new team environment enjoying football again.”

The former Wanderer was fortunate that during the COVID-19 self-isolation period she had the help of a specialised Matildas program that kept her fit and raring to go along with landing herself a job.

“That’s right. during COVID-19 restrictions I was lucky enough to be involved with the Matildas and future Matilda’s programs we had which I did daily, keeping up my fitness levels and sharpening up my ball technique.

“I also got a job and started working daily for the first time that kept me busy.”

The move to the Western Sydney Wanderers from the Melbourne Victory last year worked wonders as the ace striker really enjoyed her football which led to her side playing finals football during the 2020 W-League season.

“The move to the Western Sydney Wanderers worked out great for me.

“When I initially signed they had new training facilities as well as coaching staff who were really supportive and helpful.

“The girls were amazing, we all got along really well, they made me feel so welcome and comfortable straight away which helped me to perform at my best.”

One things for certain, the lure of Cooney-Cross, a rising female footballer to our NPL Women’s competition is a huge move and something she hopes will spearhead her to more successes in the not too distant future.

“Hopefully in the coming years I get the opportunity to play overseas with some of the best players and experience being with the Matildas squad, until then I will do my best here in Australia and with the Spartans.”

Along with Cooney-Cross, former Wanderer, Canberra United and Macarthur Rams ace Rosie Galea also penned a deal with the Spartans further bolstering Stephen Peters’ squad.

Happy Little Spartans: Kyra Cooney-Cross (left) shown with Rosie Galea with their new kits