My name is Olivia McDonald, I’m 19 years old.
At the end of July I am going to America to play college soccer in Nebraska.
My football journey began when I moved to Whitianga and joined the Mercury Bay 11th Grade team coached by Leah Gubb, the first person who truly inspired me to take the sport further.
Prior to football I played hockey in Dunedin, but there was no team in Whitianga, so I decided football was the next best option. Quickly I found a passion for the game and wanted to get better and better. I continued playing for Mercury Bay working with great coaches like Geoff Horton who helped me to work my way into Thames Valley and Waikato Bay of Plenty teams. Through these teams I was exposed to rep competitions like the National Age Group tournaments. Competing in these made me appreciate the level of football out there and exposed me to some great coaching and development opportunities.
In this time, I also started training and playing with the local Whitianga club team, the Mercury Bay Red Devils. I am grateful to the Red Devils for all the encouragement and advice I got from the players and coaches. At training sessions, I would get tips and tricks from the older players which helped me improve a lot. Through the Red Devils I also met Shane Comber. Shane has taught me so much about football and introduced me to the coach at Hamilton Wanderers women’s team, which I am very grateful for.
I soon began playing for Wanderers, which exposed me to a higher level of club play and coaching again. However, living in Whitianga and playing in Hamilton meant lots of driving for my parents which was a big commitment from them that I am incredibly thankful for. Luckily, through the coaches at Hamilton Wanderers I was exposed to coaching staff at St Peter’s School in Cambridge, where I was offered a scholarship to attend for my final two years of high school.
I started boarding at St Peter’s in early 2022 and loved every minute of it. Boarding there meant I was close to Wanderers and exposed to more quality coaching and football opportunities via the school programme. Following the Premiere National Schools Tournament later that year, I was selected to play for the NZ Secondary Schools team in the 2023 Dallas International Girls Cup in Texas, USA.
Women’s soccer in the States is huge and I decided I wanted to play US college soccer after leaving school.
Back in NZ, I began speaking to US coaches and engaged an agent to help secure an offer at a college and in a program that I liked. I settled on Northeast Community College in Nebraska because of their high-level coaching and sports program, their facilities, and their academic options. I can’t wait to get over there and meet Coach Miller and the team and get started on the next part of my journey!
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