Ashburton coach Sinisa Cohadzic hinted in the pre-season that he had a hidden weapon up his sleave for the upcoming Women’s Premier League campaign, and despite the host of new names that have flooded the club, one name, that very same secret weapon, has shone amongst the rest.
American winger Georgia Cloepfil may have been kept under wraps until United’s season opener against Boroondara Eagles, but her blazing performances on the right flank have since alerted the attention of many in quick-time.
She candidly admits that academics were prioritised over soccer when it came to planning her tertiary study path. Macalester College was the campus of choice – a smaller university located in Minnesota, toward the Northern end of the USA – and having graduated last year, now finds herself on the other side of the world, the Southern end of Australia.
We’ve had a small taste of what the athletic Cloepfil can deliver for the keen-eyed spectators of the competition, and The Corner Flag had a chat to her to see what the future has in store.
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Q. Congratulations on winning the Player of the Month award for Round’s 1-3. Obviously the media has been impressed with you, but we want to know, is this the standard you’ve set yourself or do you believe you can get better?
A. I’d say I definitely have more to give, I hope I have more to give! We’ve not quite had the results that we’ve wanted [A draw, win and loss] but it’s been really fun. I had no idea what the competition would be like before I got here so it’s been fun getting into the swing of things. But lots to learn still and I’ve been playing with some really fantastic players. The standard is high, so I hope to improve.
Q. We’ve seen that you’re quick, a tireless runner and you seem to enjoy cutting in as much as you do going to the by-line, but how would you personally describe your game style?
A. I played as a striker. All through college, I’ve played in the middle so I love scoring goals and I’m used to that. But I actually prefer to be on the outside where I can see more of the field, so it’s kind of the perfect combination – beating a player one-on-one, or I also will take advantage of the opportunity to score if I can.
Q. You’ve scored two goals so far this season, have you set yourself any targets for the season ahead in terms of goals?
A. For now I’m kind of seeing how the season plays out. I’m in a spot where I can dish up a lot of assists, which I also enjoy. No specific numbers, but it’ll be every game [as I go].
Q. Coming into the league this year, what was it that tempted you to join the Ashburton project?
A. I just wanted to keep playing after college. I never really got to fully challenge myself with soccer and play at the highest level as I could, so I was ready to try and do that. Obviously Ashburton had a huge pool of new players coming in so it was easy to join in. It’s a really awesome system you have here where you have the professional league running opposite the local league, so you have a lot of cross over. There’s a lot of time and space for the development [of players] and to play professionally. We don’t have anything like that in the States.
Q. What was it like being in the college system in America, how would you describe the processes and rigours for those that aren’t too in the know?
A. You start the process when you’re 16 years old, talking to coaches and going to [colleges] for visits and all these intense, ridiculous processes when you’re really young. They you have to decide whether you want to go to school for academics – which I chose – or soccer, which is part of the reason why I’m here getting soccer out of my system. You can decide whether you want to go to Division 1 – which was an option for me – or go to Division 3 – a smaller academic school – and that was the road I ended up choosing. Either way, it’s so fun to play in college, because you’re with your team all the time. You’re living with your friends, it’s super competitive no matter what.
Q. What’s the standard like and how do you think it compares to the standard here?
A. It’s hard to say, there’s a huge range in the States in terms of players on my team and players in the division in a whole. I was one of the top players in the division so it was an easier transition here. There’s a huge range of players and teams [in Australia], so it’s more of a confidence thing, and finding your feet once you travel to a new place without knowing your teammates.
Q. How are you enjoying your time Australia so far? First time here?
A. It’s so awesome, I feel really lucky. It’s the best thing to do right after graduating, I get to travel, play soccer and meet new people. It’s awesome, no complaints. It’s my first time here in Australia. Melbourne itself is a really cool city, really cool place to live, just exploring that. Hopefully I have a little bit of time to travel more but it’s great.
Q. How is it working under Sinisa, what type of coaching elements do you think are unique to him compared to some of your other coaches?
A. He’s a super qualified coach and his philosophy is really intelligent. His priority is to get us to buy into his way of playing soccer, which is really smart, and possession oriented. So we’re trying to get used to that but it’s great soccer he’s trying to get us to play. He’s really committed, always shows up an hour before practice, checking up on us if we’re injured. He’s just a really great coach.
Q. Tell us a little more about yourself, we’ve seen you also like to do a bit of writing. Is that something you’re considering doing next to your football career?
A. That’s part of the reason why I thought about [playing in Australia], because I have all day to do my own thing, work on my writing and combining the two – soccer and writing – is really interesting. It works as a job but I don’t know if it really fulfils my passion for either one, so it’s kind of interesting to balance. I worked at my high school newspaper doing sports coverage before I came here and it didn’t quite [fulfil my need for both soccer and writing].
Q. Finally what do you set as a successful year for yourself?
A. I guess there’s so many aspects to that. On the field, I want to keep improving and I want to be happy with my play every game. As a team, I want to win the league, not lose another game. But while here [in Australia] it’s just about maintaining balance, enjoying soccer as much as I am right now, enjoying being here and meeting new people.
Photo: Adrian Shaw/Ashburton United
Graphic: Mick Alesich