Report by Tommy Doleman

Sabreena Dressler after joining Subiaco. Photo via Sabreena Dressler Instagram

Round Nine of the NPLWA – Women’s competition begins tonight as Fremantle City host Subiaco at Wauhop Park while Murdoch University Melville take on Balcatta Etna at Besteam Stadium.

With the race for the last finals spot set to be a close race, Subi missed an opportunity to move into the top four when their game with MUM FC was postponed last week.

However they hope to receive additional impetus in Indonesia international hopeful Sabreena Dressler.

The 20-year-old returned to Perth from Indonesia in March and briefly spent time with UWA Nedlands before joining Subi earlier this month, making her debut in the 4-4 draw with Curtin a fortnight ago.

“It was hard to find a team at first because I didn’t know too much about the football here. I came back to Perth because I was born here, but also to focus on my football, because in Indonesia it hasn’t been too good for the women’s game because of Covid,” she said.

“Overall, it was the passion about the development side of things at Subiaco, and I really like how Greg [head coach Greg Farrell] knows what he’s doing and what he wants in terms of how his team plays and the process. The girls are also really lovely, I like the team and the atmosphere of it and the intensity has been very good.

“In the beginning, I understood it did take a while to get used to the team and to earn the coaches’ trust. So, when I started training, I knew I’ve got to bring my A-game and make sure I’m here to impress.

“I think I can contribute to Subiaco because I’m eager and love to work hard, improve and learn new things. I know I’m a fast-learner and I hope to share my experience with the national team to hopefully help the club, too.”

Dressler was always a fan of sports growing up and played basketball, volleyball and did track and field events before eventually finding a love for football.

The right-sided player has lived in several different countries due to her father’s job, but it was in Indonesia where her football journey really took off through college. Dressler qualifies to play for the Indonesia national team through her mother and hopes game time and improvement in the NPL can help push her to a level where she can represent Indonesia.

“I was scouted by DKI in Jakarta then went to Persija afterwards, which is one of the most popular football teams in Jakarta who have over 3.2 million followers (on Instagram), before joining up with the national team,” she said.

“It was crazy, the whole journey of joining that team, and it was a bit overwhelming. I’ve had a lot of experience already there, but I’m not as a good a player as I think I can be and hopefully coming here can help me reach my full potential.

“I was captain for most of the varsity sports teams and scored the most goals for my football team in school, but I had some ups and downs. At the beginning of joining Persija I had an eight-month knee injury which caused me pain and I was told to rest having been called up to be selected (by Indonesia). Obviously as an athlete if you’re not working out and staying fit you lose a bit of that skill-set and stamina, but I’m coming back from that now and it’s exciting.

“I have a lot of people I want to prove wrong back home and I have that drive and determination to show what I can do when I put my mind to it, and that it’s not impossible to succeed.

“I know I have the skill and the passion. I just need some polishing. Good training, experience and learning to become the best player I can be. I do see myself playing football and pushing myself (further), everyone has good days and bad days, but as long as I have that determination, I can see myself hopefully being a pro player.”

Dressler is one of only two players involved around the national team currently playing overseas and is optimistic women’s football in Indonesia is improving. Indonesia recently qualified for the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup for the first time in 33 years where they met the Matildas, but bowed out in the group stage.

She believes the popularity of football in Indonesia has led to a much-improved quality of women’s players in the country, but says it is about awareness and opportunity with regards to further growth.

“It’s truly amazing to see how women’s football has progressed, it’s grown so much and I’m so excited to see what the future holds. There’s so many great women’s players and I hope I can be one of those one day and that someone can look up to me,” Dressler said.

“I know many girls who have so much talent but they just don’t have those opportunities. I’ve been very fortunate, but some of the girls haven’t been as fortunate, so I want to use my opportunity to shed light on them and show with the right motivation that Indonesian’s can go far with football. I want to prove to them that anything is possible if you work hard and put your mind to it.

“The fans in Indonesia, they love the game and there’s a lot of enjoyment and it’s amazing to see how much football can bring so many people together, away from some of the toxicity in the world. It brings us together to enjoy life and show what girls can do on the football field.”

Elsewhere on Friday, MUM FC and Balcatta Etna also have an eye on fourth place. MUM FC haven’t played since a 3-0 defeat to leaders RedStar on May 7 and have games in hand on all the other teams in the league, while Balcatta are winless in three.

On Saturday, there are two games to complete Round Nine. The first of those will be played at Dorrien Gardens as Perth, who have kept four clean sheets in a row, welcome Hyundai NTC. In fact, NTC are the only team to have scored against Perth this season, in Round Two when NTC won 3-2 at E&D Litis Stadium. This is the first game of a double-header, which sees the Azzurri’s men face Bayswater at 5pm.

The final game pits Perth RedStar against Curtin University in a top-versus-bottom clash. Carlos Vega Mena will hope to continue their red-hot start to 2022, while Curtin face an uphill task on paper but can take heart from a late comeback over Subiaco and last week against Fremantle City where they hit the front in the second half before being overrun. This fixture follows the northern derby between RedStar and Sorrento in the Men’s NPL.

Fixtures: Friday (7.30pm unless stated): Fremantle City v Subiaco, MUM FC v Balcatta Etna (7.45pm). Saturday (3pm unless stated): Perth SC v Hyundai NTC, Perth RedStar v Curtin University (5pm).