“Playing for the Nighthawks is your joy not your job.”
Those 10 words dictated the way Box Hill United’s newest international duo Maren Heller and Kristina Hall went about their football in their journey with American club San Francisco Nighthawks.
While their respective journey’s through the Women’s Premier Soccer League were markedly unique – one a tale of redemption, the other was a long awaited return – their friendship blossomed despite not getting the opportunity to play together until deep into their footballing careers.
Now the fates have aligned to present them another opportunity in Australia of all places – and they accepted with open arms.
Kristina begun her journey with the Nighthawks as a sprightly 13-year-old, where she fast adopted the nickname of Kitten for her knack of “jumping playfully on everyone and enthusiastically chasing after any ball”.
She left the club at the age of 22 to join North Bay Wave FC who played in the defunct W-League, which served as a second tier to the highly touted NWSL.
The utility then spent four years at competition rivals Bay Area Breeze, where she first came across Maren.
“We met playing soccer back in 2011 when we tried out for the same team (Bay Area Breeze),” said Kristina on the pair’s chance meeting.
“But we never got the chance to actually play together until last summer in San Francisco.”
Injuries got the best of her during her stint at the Breeze, as she made a return to San Francisco to find her feet once more.
“I played professionally back in the States and it would be great to continue but I had a few injuries in the past that I needed some rehab for,” she added.
In making her return to the Nighthawks, she brought Maren along with her, finally berthing the opportunity for the pair to play competitively together.
“Kristina returned to us after playing Pro, and brought Maren with her, and both players were a great asset to us and helped us attain goals we have wanted,” said Jill Lounsbury, General Manager of the Nighthawks.
“What I can do as a General Manager, is make sure I give my players the best possible playing situations, the highest level on the best fields, with a coach that makes then enjoy training and prepares them for success.
“If it’s not fun, if it’s not the first thing you look forward to when you wake up, then we are doing something wrong, and we need to fix that immediately. We want to play the Beautiful game, and bring that game to future generations.”
“I am positive that they will bring something special to the Melbourne team, they are both driven, hard working, technically skilled and possess natural leadership.”
Hailing from Leonberg in Germany – a 20 minute drive west of Stuttgart – 27-year-old defender Maren arrives on the shores of Australia with tapered ambitions, comparative to her illustrious CV in her youth.
The mobile and crafty centre-half has Bundesliga experience, playing a season at the highest level with VfL Sindelfingen in her teenage years, making a total of 10 starts from 14 appearances in the 2005-06 season.
It was a learning curve of a season for the youngster who played at the heart of a defence that experienced relegation to the second division of German football, where she plied her trade for the next two years before picking up a deal with top-division side FFC Frankfurt, the current home of Matilda Emily Van Egmond.
She failed to make a senior league appearance at the club in her two season stint, prompting Maren to try her luck on a different continent.
While completing an international business degree at Auburn Montgomery University in Alabama, Maren competed for three seasons for the university’s soccer team, the Warhawks, having failed to make the Bay Area Breeze squad that Kristina was a part of.
Her three year apprenticeship in America culminated in a stint with semi-professional outfit North Bay Wave FC – a second division side in America – where despite making eight appearances in the 10 game season, had a mixed experience due to off-field issues.
“We played together in California,” told her teammate Kristina.
”[We] played for a really good team in Los Angeles and it was a really unique experience,” Maren added.
“She had the ups and the downs,” said Kristina.
“Then last year I played at the San Fransisco Nighthawks where she played, which was much better,” Maren said.
While she battled injuries in her final two season’s in America (2014-15), she got back to enjoying her football after being brought to the Nighthawks by Kristina.
Fittingly, It was Maren who returned the favour in bringing Kristina to Australia with Box Hill United, with Kristina’s first port of call not eventuating the way she’d have imagined.
“I’ve been here two days longer than Maren but my story isn’t like her one,” Kristina said on her journey Down Under.
“I had an opportunity pop up and I just decided to take it on before I started my career at home in the States. I was actually supposed to play for Heidelberg but I got a last minute call, telling me they had too many internationals and that I was the last one on the list.
“I said that was fine, then I asked Maren about her situation and she was hooked up here at Box Hill, so I decided to join her.”
Maren had earlier booked her spot with Box Hill United to help tick-off a personal dream of hers, to play football in Australia and see the sites.
“Soccer, clearly [as well as] work and travel at the end of the [American] season,” Maren said about why she came to Melbourne.
“[To play in] Australia was always a dream of mine – to play one season before I stopped playing soccer, and then after [the season’s concluded] go travel around the country.
“I went to the Great Ocean Road yesterday. We saw some kangaroos and nice beaches.”
The pair couldn’t be happier with the decision they made, not just off the pitch, but also on it as they gave a glowing review of coach Bob McGuinness.
“The coach is amazing, Bobby is one of the better coaches I’ve had over my career – and that’s about 12 years,” Kristina said, Maren adding “Go Bobby,” in agreeance.
“He’s pretty good and it makes or breaks [a club]. We’ve also been happily surprised by the [quality of the players].”
As for what they’ll bring to the playing group, the pair took the time to describe what they believe makes each of them
“I can play anywhere, but I really like being down the spine, attacking centre mid or even holding. I like to dictate play. I communicate well, even though we have a different language, it’s the same,” Kristina describes.
“Football is the universal language. My strengths are my technical ability – my service is decent – and my leap; I might be short but I can get up for headers. Anything else I’m missing?” She jokes.
“She’s quick, she has a left and right foot,” Maren added on her teammate.
Returning the favour, Kristina described Maren as “very smart at reading the play and knowing when to step up and when to drop back.”
“She doesn’t dive in and rarely gets beaten when she does – she takes everyone down with her. She’s very technical and reads the game well.”
Now, having waited for so long, Maren and Kristina get the opportunity to play together once more, and will be hoping to make their stint at Box Hill United their joy, not their job