We caught up with Balomenos before she got ready to play against Perth Glory
Before she steps onto the field in the ABC Match of the round on Saturday against Perth Glory, we caught up with Victoria Balomenos, Attacking Midfielder for her hometown-s Westfield W-League club, Adelaide United Women.
The 22 year old Lady Red is quite fittingly born on Valentine-s Day! We found out Victoria has just completed her qualification as a physiotherapist and her love of football is only matched by her love of food. We can-t blame her!
Girls FC: So, straight to the important stuff, we hear eating is one of your favourite pastimes (ours too!), what-s your favourite thing to eat? Victoria: Well after training, I pretty much eat everything! It doesn’t help when your mum (& sister Tina) is an amazing cook and you’re brought up with both Asian and European cultures! My favourite meal of all time is anything my Mum makes. Ranges from chicken wings to fried ice cream (ice cream is my nemesis!) If I had to choose just one sandwich it would be grilled chicken, grilled capsicum, eggplant, spinach, tomato, olives & bocconcini on wholemeal lepinia – toasted of course.
Girls FC: And what about football, what-s your favourite thing about the sport? Victoria: My favourite thing about football is scoring goals. The feeling of excitement and success scoring or even doing a trick brings cannot be replicated elsewhere. My career highlight is definitely scoring my first goal for Australia. It-s hard not to love the sport, my whole extended family plays football, my brother Theo currently plays for Birkalla U/17-s – maybe it-s in the genes!
Girls FC: What do you think are the most important skills to possess to be a good Attacking Midfielder? Victoria: Having good vision, close ball control and confidence.
Girls FC: We hear a lot about match rituals by the pro-s, is there anything you do to get rid of nerves and pump yourself up before a game? Victoria: I don’t have any religious pre-match rituals but I do a lot of visualisation about what I-m going to do in the game; whether that be a shot or taking on a player. Just focusing on the match is really important.
Girls FC: And what do you think it is that makes you a pro? Victoria: Professionalism comes down to how you conduct yourself as a person both on and off the pitch. I would say that being very committed and passionate about the game (i.e. getting right amount of sleep, making sacrifices, giving my best in both training and games) are all important aspects to becoming a pro!
Girls FC: When it comes to training, do you have a favourite song to run to? Victoria: I like Survivor by Destiny-s child specifically ‘I-m a survivor I-m not gonna give up, I-m not gonna stop, I-m gonna work harder!-
Girls FC: Congratulations on just completing your physiotherapy qualification! Can you tell us why you decided to choose being a physio as your career outside football? What-s your secret to juggling football training with studying? Victoria: Thanks! The end of 17 years of education has been long awaited! I chose to get into physio through my involvement with football. I liked the idea of being able to treat elite athletes and travel with my occupation. There is no real secret. Balancing football with school, work, family and social engagements is all I-ve known from young. I suppose key aspects to achieving that is to be focused on your ultimate goal, setting short term goals, being dedicated and applying yourself to everything you do and being organised. After all if you-re going to invest all this time and effort you may as well invest your all and achieve your ultimate outcome!
Girls FC: Finally, what advice would you give to a 10 year old aspiring footballer? To enjoy playing. Play at any opportunity even if it is at recess and lunch as the only girl with the boys (like i did at that age) focus on your strengths and monopolise them!
Girls FC: Thanks Victoria! Good luck this weekend. We look forward to seeing you on the field against Perth Glory in the ABC match of the week on Saturday.
