![]() It was decided that she, Jeremy, and their mum Belinda would make the move to Sydney to give both kids the best opportunities in football. Like it's not possible to make it from the country," Carpenter said. Trips to Sydney, Canberra, and other regional centres for training, games and tournaments became a regular occurrence, meaning Ellie and her brother, Jeremy, spent as much time in the car as they did on the pitch for years.Įventually, the family collectively decided a change needed to be made.Ī post shared by Ellie Carpenter 10, 11 they kind of thought we have to move to Sydney. She and her family knew from a young age that while Cowra was a great place to grow up, it wasn't the kind of place that could accommodate a young footballer's lofty ambitions. Carpenter and her family are no different. But football was the sport she wanted to pursue.įootballers often speak of sacrifices, those made by them and their families so that they can give everything to a career that is inherently finite. She could have just as easily been a sprinter, winning medals at a national level in primary school. Like many Aussie country kids, Carpenter's childhood was one spent playing outside, participating in any sport that was available, something that was encouraged with two PE teachers for parents.įrom little athletics to soccer, Carpenter was impressing from a young age. "So literally the middle of nowhere," she smiled. Plus another 20 minutes out of town if you're Carpenter. ![]() It's about a four-hour drive west of Sydney. Matildas: The World at Our Feet is the inspirational and intimate behind-the-scenes story of Australia's national team working towards hosting a World Cup on home soil. That's Cowra," Carpenter explained with a laugh. "Two sets of traffic lights, a couple of roundabouts and one main street. Friendliest town in New South Wales, 2006. With the 2023 World Cup looming on her home soil, it's a story worth revisiting to appreciate just how far Ellie Carpenter has come, and how far she still expects to go.ĬOWRA. Her story has become common knowledge but, somewhere along the way, that morphed into her story being mistaken as common - the rule rather than the exception.Īt 22 years old, the Matildas star is a player who has been doing extraordinary things her whole career and she's done them so often that the extraordinariness of them is undersold, glossed over, taken for granted. The kid from Cowra was always playing above her age bracket, debuting for the national team at 15, leaving school not long after, signing for the best club in women's football at 20. It feels like your friend is telling you a story you already kind of know, and on the surface, many Australian fans familiar with Carpenter can see how she comes to the conclusion that she basically skipped her adolescence. Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.) She sits with one leg crossed and the other bent, foot on the couch in Disney's " Matildas: The World at Our Feet" documentary series, wearing a yellow t-shirt and a letter 'E' charm on her necklace. ![]() "I kind of skipped that and went from a kid to an adult overnight." "I don't think I ever was a teenager," Australia defender Ellie Carpenter says, relaxed and amused as she does so, almost like she is realising it for the first time all over again.
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