Chelsie Dawber, the Liberty A-League’s third top goalscorer and Australian youth international, is as confident off the field as she is on it.
The 22-year-old attacker is a straightshooter as much as a sharpshooter.
But when asked to reflect on the time in her life that she was grounded, unable to play any of the sports she grew up loving, she paused, overcome with emotion.
“It still gets me upset because I had to miss quite a lot of time from soccer and sport and things that I love. Proud where I am today. (My) 16-year-old self probably didn’t think I’d be sitting here right now,” Dawber said.
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“I was playing indoor soccer with my state team and one of my friends in the warm-up had a shot and hit me on the side of the head and I (knocked) my head on the wall. I kept playing as you do.
“After the game I collapsed on the floor, had to go to the hospital. When I got back to Adelaide I played in a basketball tournament and that’s when I realised, ‘oh, something’s not right here’.
“I saw my doctor who said I’ve got this thing called post concussion syndrome. I didn’t know what that was. I educated myself. Typically people recover within a month from that, I took eight months to recover.
“It was a difficult time, I was in Year 11, was missing school, couldn’t hang out with friends, do driving lessons. Overall the whole eight months was very unpleasant, not very fun for a 16-year-old. But, in the end, looking back at it, I’m stronger for it.”
For an active, confident teen like Dawber, the news left her shellshocked.
But she persisted. And five years on from her Adelaide United debut, Dawber is preparing to lead them into finals – a first Liberty A-League final, in front of a boisterous home Cooper’s Stadium crowd, no less – as a key attacking weapon, netting 10 goals off the right wing.
Dawber has been overcoming challenges all her life, from the moment she stepped onto a football pitch.
“The main thing growing up playing sport was that I could do whatever I want to do if I set my mind to it and work hard,” she said.
“I played at St Augustines and (Adelaide) Blue Eagles as a junior, then the (girls) state team and then Adelaide City. I played with boys from Under 6 to Under 12s. At Blue Eagles, everyone said, ‘why are we picking a girl in our team?’ And all the parents were kind of hating on me. But that year I won best player for the whole team in the boy’s team. So I showed them who was boss.
“Everyone says ‘you play like a girl’. I remember one parent saying ‘I wish my son played like a girl’. That was probably the biggest compliment I ever got from a boy’s team growing up – that I’m better than the boys.
“I always played two years up – girls develop a bit faster than boys at a younger age, but I really enjoyed playing boys. That pushed me and other different aspects of my game. As I got older and the boys treated me like the younger sister, growing up was just like playing with my older brother (Matthew) and my younger brother (Darcy) too.
“Those experiences definitely pushed me from a young age, but also to believe that I am good enough. I am good enough to play in the boys. I’m definitely good enough to play in the girls.
“That self-belief that I can do anything if I set my mind to it, playing with boys and different sports, still being at school, studying. I’m high achiever, I’ve got my university degree (speech pathology).
“As a kid I was so active, I was training 10, 11, 12 times a week.”
With only teammate Fiona Worts (13 goals) and Melbourne City’s Hannah Wilkinson (11), an impeccably timed goalscoring purple patch – a prolific 15 goals in two – has propelled Dawber into Matildas contention on the eve of a home World Cup.
Capable of playing up front, on either wing or in a slightly deeper central role, Dawber’s versatility is something coaches crave in international tournaments.
Brimming with confidence, finals looms as another chance to add to her body of work, as Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson contemplates his next squad – two games against New Zealand in Australia in April – after the 2022 Asian Cup left him with more questions than answers.
Her Adelaide United teammates cite her growth trajectory of the past two years as proof she is ready for the Matildas call up.
“The biggest thing she’ll get to is the Matildas for sure. There is no way she can’t pay for them. You can’t score 10 goals in a season and not get a call up,” United captain Isabelle Hodgson said.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing her break onto the international stage and she can go anywhere.”
Vice-captain Matilda McNamara added: “It’s inevitable she’ll end up playing for the national team. She’s such a good striker of the ball, such a good goalscorer.”
Having featured in several Matildas youth camps, a determined Dawber is also eyeing off an international debut.
“It would be amazing (to be in the 2023 World Cup squad), I couldn’t describe the feeling. Women’s sport has been growing (rapidly) the last few years, but in particular soccer. Having the World Cup here will be amazing. It will be an awesome experience for those young girls to look up to the older girls (of the 32 teams),” Dawber said.
“It will have some exposure to people that probably never watch a soccer game, or in particular women’s soccer.
“Hopefully put myself on the radar for the Matildas and make that 2023 World Cup team.
“If I were to be lucky enough to make that team, then I would take it with both hands and just cherish the moment.”
Liberty Extra Time
Episode I: Brisbane Roar’s Nat Tathem
Episode II: Melbourne Victory’s Casey Dumont
