Broken Hill can lay claim to having had a Guinness World Record holder amongst its midst with Carol Askew claiming the title of the world’s oldest competitive football [soccer] player.
At the ripe old age of 75 years and 179 days, on March 26, Ms Askew – who lived in the Silver City in the 1990s – lined up for winter club Gymea United FC in Woronora Heights in a match against Bosco FC in the Sutherland Shire Football Association W40B competition.
Her club suffered a 4-1 defeat but it was off-field that where there was a more memorable result. Supported by her friends who knew she was playing, Ms Askew was spurred on to go to the Guinness World Records.
“It’s an achievement. It is a highlight. It’s one of them, but it’s a highlight,” she told us.
“It couldn’t have happened in a better year, could it? I just thought it was really good that it happened in the same year [as the FIFA Women’s World Cup].”
Beginning her football career in 1984 for Sylvania Heights FC, Ms Askew moved to Broken Hill in 1994 to take up a position as a solicitor, staying in the role here for eight years.
Despite not playing football while in the Silver City due to her work commitments, Ms Askew rejoined Sylvania Heights FC where she would play until 2022.
In 2022 however, the Heights FC were unable to field a full over-40s women’s team. Undettered, and keen on her football, Ms Askew switched clubs, moving to Gymea United FC to continue her playing career.
Ms Askew says it’s mind over matter that’s helped her reach this point.
Ms Askew says it’s mind over matter that’s helped her reach this point.
“I can get some whopping bruises. And when I play goalie, I was diving on the ball and everything. So, you’d be sore, but the point is, it’s mind over matter and you just get up.
“It just gets rid of all the cobwebs, and one the things – and I think we all agree, the girls that I play with – is it makes you forget everything else. If you’re really going through a tough time at home or you’ve got other issues, it just clears your brain for that period of time, because you can’t do both.
“One of the things I’ve found is that women get to a certain age, and they die off. Die off in the sense that they go into a different mindset. And maybe that’s not the right way of describing it, but they don’t think they can go past what they’re currently doing, when they could. If you can do it, you do it.
“And it’s not about running around in a pair of shorts or something like that, trying to be something. It doesn’t matter whether you’re good, bad, or really fantastic. It’s the fact that you’re out there. But you’ve got that team spirit, you’ve got the support, and you just feel alive.”
A premiership player with Sylvania Heights FC in 2010, and the first female competitor to become a life member of the club, Ms Askew has no plans to slow down just yet.
“I’m still working full-time, but I’m just enjoying life. It’s not time to take the boots off yet,” she says.
“I’ve just signed up for summer soccer [with the Miranda Magpies] and then winter soccer, well, that’s next year. If they’re still playing and I’m still a member of the team, I’ll play. If somebody wants to challenge me and I’m still playing next year, I’m going to give them a run for their money!”
