Katrina Avila may feel like she’s walked into a baptism of fire.
Casey Comets’ American import has played three games at the club currently languishing at the bottom of the Sportsmart WPL table, still seeking its first win in 2015.
It’s not all doom and gloom just yet for the American, who is appreciative of Casey providing the opportunity to travel and play in Australia, and is determined to help its rise up the ladder.
It’s been a forcedly quick learning curve for the 22-year-old, who admits she knew very little about Australian football before jetting off down under.
“I got the information from the club through my college coach at University of South Florida and then I contacted them and got a call back from Ian [Williamson] a week later, and that’s how it all happened,” Avila said.
“I’ve never been outside of the USA, but I wanted to keep playing soccer, they made me the offer to come here and I just went with it.
“I knew shockingly little before I came. I tried to do some research, I asked a few of the coaches at the university to find out about the club for me and they said it was a good opportunity.”
Avila is straightforward about the pressures of being a female footballer, involving years of hard work through college, along with the added challenge of seeking out a club in the off-season for additional game time and match fitness.
“Before you get to college you have your club, and then you also play for your school, and when you get to college that’s the big deal,” she said.
“You hopefully do well in college over four years and have some sort of resume, and you start doing try-outs.
“During summer you’re not allowed to train with the team so that’s when you find a club and that’s something to do over summer.
“You may have to travel [abroad], it just depends on how serious you are and how much work you put into it, getting an agent to help you out.”
Whilst her Comets’ career hasn’t yielded much cheer to date, Avila says it’s not for a lack of her side trying, commending her new teammates on their friendliness towards her and believes a positive result isn’t too far away.
“They’re a very good group of girls and they’re very welcoming,” she said.
“I’ve been seeing sights, I went to the Zoo, and the city’s stadium [MCG] where I’d never heard of Australian footy [AFL] before, it’s crazy that there’s a sport I’ve never heard about and it’s such a big deal here.
“On the pitch, I feel like I have freedom on the ball, they’re not going to freak out on me, they respect me as a player and I really like that.
“We have a bit of work to do, but I think we’ll be fine overall, as long as we get it together and I think we can be pretty competitive.”