By JARROD POTTER
HAVING represented Australia already, young Beaconsfield soccer star Maddy Hanna is turning heads already in her burgeoning soccer journey.
The St Francis Xavier student had the experience of a lifetime when Hanna, 15, recently travelled to South East Asia to represent Footskills Australia in the Singapore Cup.
Playing in the heat made the 10-day, seven-game trip a challenge, but despite the soaring humidity and temperature, the holding-midfielder loved every second of playing for her country.
“It was really amazing actually – was really warm over there so it was hard to play through,” Hanna said.
“The team and our coaches were really good – we bonded really quickly.
We played against really good teams – played Germany and beat them 3-0 which was really good and then the semi-final came down to a penalty shootout which we won and we all went crazy and psycho.
“We lost our grand final – but we lost to a really good team – so we finished second and the boys finished third.”
She didn’t get to feature much in the grand final after dislocating her ankle, leaving her to watch on from a wheelchair as the Australian side was downed by Thai team Chonburi FC 1-2.
“In the grand final in the second minute I had to be wheelchaired off,” Hanna said.
“Only two minutes into the match – I’m alright now though.
“Playing against Chonburi – the Thai team – all their players were international players and playing against them was a really good, fun experience.”
The trip started in Kuala Lumpur as the Footskills Australia side trained at the prestigious Singapore Sports School before beating a local sports side 8-0 to warm up before the tournament.
Her next challenge will be in the newly formed Women’s National Premier League (WNPL) Victorian competition where she is training with Southern United, but her dream is to get a chance in the best college system on the planet, playing in America’s NCAA competition on a college scholarship.
She wanted to thank her coach Ian Williamson for selecting her in the side and his disciplined, but effective, mentoring.
