Avgoustou keen to earn her stripes in the big league

After a rocky start to the National Premier Leagues NSW Women’s campaign, promising young goalkeeper Chloe Avgoustou is keen to prove Sutherland Shire FA have earned their promotion into the top flight.
A former National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year recipient, Avgoustou is quickly learning that life in the top tier is a whole new ball game.
For Avgoustou, this is her first season playing for the Sutherland Shire team and with seven rounds in, the Shire side are beginning to find their feet in a brand-new league.
“Between Women’s 2 and the top tier, there’s a really big difference in the game’s intensity and speed of play.
“I think as a team we really have to adjust to that.
“In Women’s 2 we were so used to setting the pace and tempo, but in the top flight there are a lot of teams who have some big-name players and are more experienced in playing together.”
Currently the Shire side are sitting at the foot of the ladder but are hoping to get the runs on the board in moving off the bottom.
With the team still in it’s infancy, Avgoustou stated they are still ironing out early stage teething issues.
Working on their cohesion is the biggest focus for the team, with several women playing together for the first time this season.
Being able to find their rhythm and learn each other’s style of play will be crucial to their future success.
“We are working on bringing our team together because we are such a new team.
“I’ve only joined this year and there are a couple of other girls in the same boat, so we are working on playing as one team which does take time.
“We are also focusing on picking up the tempo and keeping up with our opponents because we want to show people that we deserve to be here.”
When asked about her trademark pink head-gear, Chloe shared how it ended up as a permanent staple on match days.
“When I was 11, I got knocked unconscious during a game, but I have no memory of it and I’ve worn it ever since.
“It’s more so that it makes my Dad feel better, but now I’m used to it and wear it in every game.
“It’s become a bit of a fashion accessory, I made sure that I had a pink jersey to match the pink head gear.”
In relation to the rapid growth of the women’s game recently, Chloe says she believes it is heading in the right direction.
“The Matildas were very unlucky not to win the Women’s AFC Asian Cup over the weekend but getting all of that support and momentum behind them is so good and I hope to see that continue.
“The women’s game deserves to be viewed as equal to the men’s game – we work just as hard to get where we are and we achieve just as much.”
-By Liana Buratti