Amy Harrison has lofty goals with Wanderers, Matildas ahead of Tokyo 2020
Like most little sisters Wanderers star Amy Harrison just wanted to play the same sport as her brother. But she ended up staying in soccer for a different reason altogether.
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She started playing because she wanted to emulate her older brother Chris but from the start Amy Harrison was drawn to football “like a magnet’.
The attraction has seen her return from not one, but two, ACL surgeries and extended periods on the sidelines between 2016 and 2018.
It has seen her leave the comfort of familiar surrounds at a club she joined as a precociously talented 16-year-old to challenge herself with a new role at the Wanderers.
And it also stopped her choosing an elite cricket career like her old Sydney FC teammate Ellyse Perry, over one in football.
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“I don’t know what it is. It just fits me,’’ said the 23-year-old from Camden who joined the Blacktown based club this season.
“It’s what I do. It is what I am.
“I honestly just love it. I loved the vibe. ’’
The move across town to the Wanderers has reaped immediate rewards with Harrison breaking through for her first goal in five seasons in the W-League last month.
“It was cool to get the monkey off my back,’’ said Harrison, now playing a more attacking role with the Wanderers.
“I missed probably two to three seasons with both my ACL’s, so I wasn’t playing consistently for a while.
“Now I’m back playing consistently, playing higher on the field, more in the midfield and that helps.
“It has given me renewed confidence. It’s good to know you can still make an impact and still score.’’
On a one-year contract with the Wanderers, Harrison is keen for a breakout season in the W-League to put herself right in the mix for Matildas selection for the Tokyo Olympics.
“They are right around the corner. I have my eye on them for sure,’’ she said.
“But at the same time I am just trying to do by best with the Wanderers. If I do well for them and the national team, hopefully the Olympics will come off the back of them.
“There’s only 18 players (for the Olympics). It’s cut throat. It’s a challenge.’’
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