As the striking force on the Matildas (the Australian women’s national soccer team), and now an international rising star at Chelsea F.C. in the Barclays Women’s Super League (the highest league of women’s football in England), Sam Kerr is making headlines for her virtuous sportsmanship, impeccable athleticism and unyielding talent.
Coming from sporting beginnings, Sam grew up in East Fremantle, Perth and was born into a family of athletes: her older brother and father played AFL and her uncle was a champion horse jockey who won the Melbourne Cup in 1966.
Introduced to footy at a young age, Sam was playing Aussie Rules up until she was about 12, after which her family one day decided playing with the boys was getting a bit too rough, seeing as there was no league for girls while she was growing up. Soccer had always been a sort of ‘back-up’ sport for her, until she made it her sole focus and debuted for the Matildas only three years later at the sprightly young age of 15.
Since then, her aptitude for the sport has seen her score 56 goals in 108 appearances for Australia, and as of 2022, Sam is the all-time leading Australian international scorer, both male and female, and is the all-time leading scorer in the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States.
Not just a phenomenal player but a role model as well, Sam is the first woman to feature on the upcoming global edition of the popular game, EA Sports’ FIFA 23—a historic moment for women, not just in soccer, but in all sports too.