By Isaac Norwoozi
Canberra FC’s Brigette Wright wears the number 13 shirt for her side, and Coach Peter Kavouras has nothing but great things to say about the girl that “never stops running.” However, the path to the Women’s Premier League was never easy for Wright, who was forced to travel for hours before she moved to Canberra just for a place to play.
“During my gap year I used to come down from the south coast every Sunday, it’s about a three-and-a-half-hour drive” said Wright. Wright has been playing football from a young age, however due to the lack of female junior teams, she was forced to play with the boys.
“I got into football when I was 11, just from playing at school, and school competitions” she said. “Then I started playing with boys at the local competition, I was pretty much the only girl every time in the junior comps.”
Wright’s love for the sport seems to know no bounds, with her willingness to travel and be the ‘odd-one-out’ for a number of years before she played in a women’s competition. A trait that has made her one of the hardest working and most durable players in the WPL. Wright could have played any sport, but it was football that really caught her attention.
“I chose football because it has a lot of elements that I really love about sports, like fitness and the comradery” she said. “Also, there’s more contact than you’d typically find in other sports that females play like netball and it takes a lot of skill. It’s tough, it’s a good challenge.”
Wright is not only hardworking on the pitch, but off it as well. Studying a Bachelor of Science at the Australian National University, Wright is juggling sport with study, and trying hard to progress in both.
“I’d love to play for a W-League club one day but it’s a bit hard to juggle with university,” she said. “So I’m just going to keep going forward as hard as I can and see where it goes.”