Alex Chidiac wins SA women's Premier League's best player and represents Australia aged 14
ALEX Chidiac has played for Australia, trained with Adelaide United and won SA soccer's highest individual honour for women aged just 14.
ALEX Chidiac has long dreamt of playing soccer for Australia, training with the Lady Reds and making her name in the SA women's Premier League.
What the 14-year-old midfielder could never have imagined was those three goals being realised at once.
Within weeks in August and September, Alex, of Windsor Gardens, made her Australian debut with the national under-16 team, began training with Adelaide United's women's squad and took out the Shirley Brown Medal for player of the year in SA's top-tier ladies competition.
Not bad for a girl who is in Year 9 at St Mary's College, is too young to drive and kicks a ball in her loungeroom every night to improve her skills.
"I've been dreaming of playing for Australia since I was four," she said.
"For it all to happen this early is amazing.
"It's really overwhelming."
Alex played in boys' teams at Croydon Kings, winning an under-14 B-grade premiership in 2011, before joining Football Federation SA's under-14/15 girls' team this past season.
She was identified as an Australian junior prospect after being named player of the tournament at the girls' National Youth Championships at Coffs Harbour in July.
The following month she wore the green and gold for the first time in two friendlies against New Zealand in Canberra.
Alex was in an English class at school a fortnight later when she learnt she had been named in the Australian squad for the Asian Cup in China.
"My mum rang me up and I didn't know how to react," says Alex, who played in both of Australia's Asian Cup fixtures, scoring one goal.
"It was the best feeling in the world.
"I never imagined I would play for Australia ever."
Australia finished with a 1-1 record and did not make it past the group stage.
In the lead-up to the Asian Cup, Alex last month became the youngest winner of the Premier League player of the year after a standout season in which she scored 33 goals, the second-highest tally in the competition.
She also was called up to train with the Lady Reds but cannot play for them until she turns 15 in January.
Alex's FFSA under-14/15 coach Jonathan Ruse said she can become a senior Australian player and Lady Reds regular if she continued to work hard.
"It will depend on a lot of things as to what age she gets there but she certainly has a chance to get there soon," he said.