sport, local-sport, Teresa Polias, Sydney FC, W-League, Melbourne Victory, Kogarah, Jubilee Oval

From where Teresa Polias grew up, she could almost hit Jubilee Oval with a long diagonal from her front yard. A Carss Park and Ramsgate junior in the St George Football Association, Polias is sky blue through and through. The 28-year-old grew up supporting her home town club Sydney FC when they entered the A-League. She rarely missed a home game in the club’s early years. Polias and her brother made the most of a family friend’s generosity to borrow his Allianz Stadium season tickets. The football-mad girl from Brighton-Le-Sands then earned the chance to play for her girlhood team, playing every minute for the 2012-13 W-League championship-winning Sky Blues. Polias, who has 10 international caps for Australia, was promoted to Sydney FC’s captain and has led the club for a number of seasons. And, for a St George girl who grew up supporting Sydney FC from the stands, Sunday is a dream come true. The Sky Blues host Melbourne Victory in their round four W-League clash at Jubilee Oval as part of a double header to be played before the A-League ‘Big Blue’. Sydney FC officials are expecting a sold out crowd at Kogarah as the club play their first games at their major temporary home. And Polias will get the chance to lead out her team in front of not only a big crowd – but also her family and friends. “It’s always a huge honour for me every time I play for Sydney FC but I am really excited for Sunday. It’s going to be extra special,” Polias told the Leader. “Half the crowd might be people I know. I do have a lot of supporters coming. The whole Polias clan will be there, my partner, his family and his mates. I’ll have a lot of familiar faces in the crowd who I want to do proud. “The stadium itself bodes really well for a good crowd. The atmosphere will be phenomenal. It’s a beautiful, intimate, suburban ground. I think it’ll give first timers a really good taste and even season ticket holders of a number of years I think will love it.” Sydney FC have endured a mixed start to the W-League season. A 3-0 win over Western Sydney in the opening round was followed by a 3-1 loss to defending champions Melbourne City. The Sky Blues were handed a week off for the international break as six of their players – Lisa De Vanna, Caitlin Foord, Princess Ibini-Isei, Alanna Kennedy, Chloe Logarzo and Amy Sayer – featured in Australia’s squad for their pair of friendly matches against Chile. And Polias believes the week off came at a good time. “It’s definitely been a mixed bag so far. It wasn’t the best going into the break after a poor performance against City. In saying that we did take a few things from that game and a lot of positive things from the Wanderers game. “We’ve had a couple of weeks tough training and I think we’ll be raring to go on Sunday.” The popularity of women’s football has continued to grow in recent years, largely thanks to the success of the Matildas. And with the women’s World Cup in France next year and the Olympics in Tokyo to follow in 2020, Polias is hopeful that trend will only continue as more and more young girls take up the sport. “I got into football when my brother started playing with Rockdale Raiders and my dad brought my sister and I down to have a go,” she said. “I took to it pretty naturally. I couldn’t get enough of it. “It’s definitely growing. I’m sure it will [continue]. I think we’re a huge chance to gain hosting rights with our 2023 World Cup bid. “We’re basically a powerhouse now, pretty much. The reality is we have the depth now and we’re continuing to build. The stars in the team now are quite young still. They’ll be just about peaking in their careers at that time. “It’s exciting to think about. The Matildas have huge potential to win a World Cup, potentially on home soil.” If the Matildas are to enjoy future success it will be down to women’s football pioneers like Polias. While she has played at the World Cup and the Asian Cup for Australia and more than a decade in the W-League, Polias has had to do it the hard way. Working full-time as a primary school teacher, Polias would be up early to get to work. On her feet all day and putting all her energy into her teaching, she would finish up at school in the afternoon and head straight to training. From there it would be late home, exhausted, where she would start preparing for work again the next day. And that cycle continued for seven years. But such is the growth in women’s football, Polias has been able to take a term away from teaching to concentrate on her football for the first time in her career. “I made that choice to focus on my football for once in my career. It’s the first time I haven’t had to juggle things so intensely,” she said. “It’s been great so far, a bit of a shock. I’ve gone from going 100 miles an hour at two jobs that demand you give 110 per cent to putting everything into my football. “For years and years I’ve somehow done it. Only just now I’ve stopped working I think how on earth did I do that? “I’m not old but I’m not getting any younger. The demands from football are getting higher and higher. The last couple of seasons have been really exhausting. It led to a few niggling injuries that just wouldn’t be there if I was able to do things the way I should be able to. “I always wondered if I got the chance to do this full time where I could take my game. I’m not complaining, I love teaching. But now I have time to do things I couldn’t before. Some things as simple as resting, sleeping, prehab and rehabing my body. “It is frustrating but at the same time I was always aware of it from a young age. But it’s our duty to do the hard yards now and one day in the future players will be able to be fully professional. “I play because I love the game. And I’d love to go pro and wish I could have for a longer period of time. But I’ve always remembered why I play the game and what drives me. “If we get to the point girls can go fully professional, that’s the dream. “We’re lucky we have a lot of players now who are full time. They split their time overseas and come back to the W-League. It's their duty to build the league so one day it can become fully professional.”

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