Last December we told you the story of 13-year-old Broken Hill footballer Ava Turley who was heading off to play soccer in the UK and France.
Well now Ava’s back and she sat down with the Barrier Truth to discuss the trip of a lifetime, her takeaways, what’s she’s learnt, and what it was like playing on her very first synthetic pitch.
Barrier Truth – So you have just returned from Europe, where you went on a trip to get some more soccer experience, hone your skills and become the best player you can be. Can you run us through what your day-to-day was like while you were over there?
Ava Turley – So we’d wake up at 7am and go down to the breakfast buffet in the hotel. The breakfasts were not very nice. Once we’d grabbed food we had to go back up and get ready and we were off by 8:30 most days, either sightseeing or playing matches. A lot of the time we were going from hotel to hotel, so we’d have to bring all of our bags and be on the bus all day. Most of our games were at night so we would get back at about 11 o’clock, go to sleep and start all over again the next day.
BT – So you were playing games most days. And you were training a lot too?
AT – Most days, we’d play a match. I’d say every second day. And we only trained once. That was before our first game, and that was mostly to just sort out teams.
BT – So what was your biggest takeaway from the trip?
AT – I liked making new friends, really. And it was so different playing on the synthetic at the different academies. The ball rolled so fast, so that was a bit tricky, made things a little bit harder. I had to run super-fast to catch the ball.
BT – What was your favourite place to visit?
AT – The Eiffel Tower. I got some great pictures there. I’m not sure how often it is, but it lights up for a few minutes every half hour or hour.
BT – What was your favourite sporting moment you had on the trip?
AT – There was so many. Playing all the games against all the teams. It was a lot different to playing here. We also got to visit the Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur stadiums, which was cool. And we got to go to the Arsenal vs Chelsea Women’s Super League (WSL) match at the Emirates Stadium [in London’s Holloway and known as the Arsenal Stadium when the team play in UEFA matches]. Some 66,000 people and we had front row seats. It was so cool. I was in the Arsenal end waving a Chelsea flag. The Arsenal fans didn’t like me too much [laughs].
BT – And now you’re back in Broken Hill, are you aiming for a premiership with St Joes?
AT – Yeah well last season in the under 14s we got it, but in the women’s we lost in a penalty shootout, so hopefully we can take the next step this year.
You can catch Ava Turley in the BHSA and BHJSA this season playing for St Joes U14s and St Joes women’s side.
