In her short period of time at Western United, Jess McDonald’s impact can’t be understated.
Off the field, McDonald has brought what she describes as a ‘mum presence’, but also as an extra coach – using her wealth of experience to help nurture the younger players on her team.
READ: WHOLESOME OFF-CAMERA MOMENT SUMS UP WORLD CUP WINNER’S UNIQUE A-LEAGUES ROLE
But on the field, she’s been just as damaging in her nine games down under, helping the Liberty A-League’s newest side to an incredible start to life in the competition. Her short stint as helped United surge up the standings and into top spot, off the back of eight wins and only the one loss.
Her presence in attack has been enormous, scoring twice and getting in great areas to provide service for Golden Boot leader and fellow American attacker Hannah Keane.
And in the final game of her guest stint at United, the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup winning attacker did what she does best – creating both Keane and TJ Vlajnic’s goals in their 2-0 win over Brisbane Roar in Hobart.
After the game, McDonald reflected on her time in Australia and what she learned while being part of United’s inaugural squad.
“My biggest goal was to obviously make as big of an impact as I possibly could for this club and for all these young ladies here on this team,” McDonald said.
“This journey has honestly… truly humbled me and especially to come down here and make the sacrifice that I made to obviously leave my son. We wanted to end it with a bang and being eight and one before I leave, I mean it doesn’t get any better than that to help create a winning program.”
But it hasn’t all been easy for McDonald, who spoke about the challenges and sacrifices of making the move half-way across the world to be part of United’s squad, which included being away from her 10-year-old son.
“It’s been incredibly bittersweet,” McDonald said.
My son, he’s at an age where he understands the sacrifice that I’m making. But at the end of the day, this was the journey that I had to continue on in my career because I lost a lot of confidence last season in 2022 as a footballer, and one thing I really wanted to do this offseason, coming down here to play for Western was to have fun and gain more confidence.
“So that’s exactly what I did. And I’ll definitely leave here satisfied and I know my son at the end of the day will be proud of me. We obviously miss one another but I had to tell him and continue to remind him that this is just for a short period of time.”
Will we see McDonald again in the Liberty A-League? The 34-year-old striker said there had been offers to stick around longer term and will “see” at the end of the year as she rejoins Racing Louisville FC in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
READ: KEANE ON SONG AS WESTERN GET BACK TO WINNING WAYS IN HOBART OVER ROAR
However, the one thing she will take away, in particular, from her stint at United is the bonds she’s formed with her United team-mates – who she helped usher through thefirst-half of the campaign.
“I would definitely have to say it was a fun season,” she said.
“I know I’ve said that before, but it truly was to obviously come here and help create a winning environment and that was my goal when I came down here.
But to also have fun and one incredible thing that I have done at the end of the day… this is just cherry on top but created new friendships.
“These are such incredible human beings that I was able to play on the field with… I’m just so grateful for that and grateful for what my job brings to the table and that’s creating many friendships around the world and back.”
SATURDAY AGENDA
Western United 2-0 Brisbane Roar
Venue: North Hobart Oval
Melbourne City 1-0 Western Sydney Wanderers
Venue: Casey Fields
Adelaide United 1-2 Melbourne Victory
Venue: ServiceFM Stadium
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