A young Hawkesbury football superstar has taken another step in her already successful career.
Courtney Nevin has recently signed her first Women’s League contract with the Western Sydney Wanderers.
She has also continued her success at a national level, moving up from the Mini Matildas to the Young Matildas.
The 16-year-old back has played at a high level since she was 11, which has allowed her to gain a lot of experience quite quickly.
“It’s an honour to be selected in these teams at such a young age,” Nevin said.
“It means a lot to sign with the Wanderers being from western Sydney.”
She said she was excited and looked forward to being able to improve, so she could build a better understanding of the game.
Nevin is looking to become a leader in her teams and hopes her recent selections will provide her with the experience she will need to refine her leadership skills.
Nevin started playing soccer at the Oakville Ravens and during her early successes was supported by her primary school, Oakville Public School.
When she was first selected to the NSW PSSA team, Oakville Public held a mufti-day with a gold coin donation to raise the money needed to send her to nationals.
“It meant a lot to have the support of the school,” she said.
“It is good that I get so many opportunities to succeed … I just want to work hard and do the best I can.”
Currently attending Westfield Sports High, Nevin won the MVP for the 2018 combined high school seconds team.
In September 2018 she was co-winner of the National Premier Leagues NSW Women’s player of the year.
The award came following a highly successful season that saw her score 11 goals.
She has been training with the Young Matildas and is preparing to travel to Indonesia for early world cup qualifiers.
Nevin already has experience playing with top-calibre Women’s League players, as she faced some of her Wanderers’ teammates during that training.
The draw for the first round of the 2019 AFC under-19 Women's Championship qualifying in Kuala Lumpur will see Australia come up against Hong Kong, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Mongolia in a five-team Group A.
There are six groups in total, with the winner of each and two best runners-up across the pools to advance to the second round of qualifying. The eight then battle for four spots.
The Young Matildas will play their first qualifying matches from this Saturday, October 20, to October 28.
Nevin said she was excited by everything that is happening, and wants to continue to improve and grow her football career in hopes of making the Matildas side in the future.
