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Kirsty Yallop
New Centurion Kirsty Realising Her Dream Again
by Jeremy Ruane
New Zealand women's football's latest centurion is, like all her team-mates, eagerly looking forward to helping the Football Ferns make their mark on the world stage at the Olympic Women's Football Tournament.
So much so that, to aid her preparations for the year, Kirsty Yallop made the decision to move clubs, bidding adieu to Vittsjo GIK, whom she helped to win promotion to the Damellsvenskan in 2011, her first season at that club.
"I think it was time for a new challenge, as I'd been there for nearly five seasons", reflects 'KY'. "I had a few options on the table, but Mallbackens made me a really good offer, to which I really couldn't say no.
"It's been a bit up and down so far" - only goal difference is keeping Kirsty's new club out of the relegation spots at present - "but it's given me what I wanted for the season, one without too much pressure on me at club level, given the Olympics is my prime focus for the year".
Having a couple of fellow Australasians alongside her to share the experience with has bolstered the fun factor, however. "It's great to have 'Greenie' (Anna Green) over there as I've never had another Kiwi in Sweden except (Ali) Riley, and we've never been on the same team! So it's nice to have another one of us over there, and 'Meeks' (Australian international Tameka Butt) as well. It's cool playing with each other".
Playing in Sweden's top flight is also something which continues to stimulate Kirsty's appetite for the game. "It's really good. You get good games week in, week out, and play against some really good players as well. It's a good lifestyle - being able to play professionally in one of the best leagues in the world".
Before she headed abroad to make a living from the game she loves, Kirsty came through the grades with Lynn-Avon United, making her first team debut as a fourteen-year-old in 2001.
"I didn't know it was not quite the same as what it used to be", she says of her first club's current plight, with no little amount of understatement. "Times have changed, obviously, but the football situation was completely different when I was playing there.
"In my time, we were a really strong team, laden with internationals. Nowadays, most of the Football Ferns are playing overseas, of course. Nevertheless, it's a bit disappointing to see how things are for my old club now, but unfortunately Lynn-Avon hasn't been able to sustain the good times that we used to have".
She was also an Avondale College student, so going back to her old stamping ground for the Football Ferns' Olympics squad's announcement was particularly special for this former pupil.
"That was really cool. I didn't even know we would be going to Avondale College, so when I found that out it was quite exciting. The school is completely different to when I was there twelve years ago - it's changed a lot! But the theatre where the announcement was made hasn't changed a bit since I was there, and some of the teachers are still there too, which is kind of crazy!
"When I was there, Avondale was the school to go to in terms of football for girls, so it was cool to go back there and see how many have actually come through from Avondale College. At the moment there are four of us in the squad, but recent
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Football Ferns such as Hayley (Bowden), (Kristy) Hill and Maia (Jackman) have all been there as well".
Being named in the squad confirmed Kirsty as a three-time Olympian, along with six of her team-mates. And being an Olympian has very special meaning to the tough-tackling 29-year old.
"I guess it's the epitome of everything I always dreamed of when I was a kid. Being at the top of my sport, and being at the Olympics, representing New Zealand, is everything I dreamed of.
"I couldn't achieve more than that. It's the pinnacle - the reward for working hard to be the best player you can be, and being able to realise that dream".
The scorer of the Football Ferns' first-ever goal at an Olympic Women's Football Tournament, against Japan in Qinhuangdao, China, in 2008, is also pleased that she's coming into Rio 2016 injury-free, unlike last year's FIFA Women's World Cup Finals, where she was afforded a solitary minute's game-time in our final game.
"Canada 2015 was obviously really disappointing for me. I definitely expected a lot more game time than I got. But the competition for places has definitely improved, which means there's greater depth, and gives the coaching staff more options for their preferred line-up for certain games.
"I've obviously had my fair share of major injuries", reflects Kirsty on a career which has seen her sidelined by, amongst other things, the dreaded ACL tear in 2007, and an injury to the same knee which restricted her to just thirty minutes' game-time at Germany 2011.
"They've set me back and made me miss out on a few things", says our newest centurion, "but that's life. I guess they toughen you up a little bit, particularly character-wise.
"As you get older, you also get a little bit wiser, and learn how to manage your body better - you get better at knowing how it works, how it's feeling, things like that. Things like not training too much, and that fine line between doing what you need to do and what you should be doing, but not overdoing it, also come into it".
The end product, right now, is a midfield general who is bristling for action in Brazil, with an eye to achieving the ultimate prize for any Olympian.
"A medal would be amazing", admits the fun-loving blonde. "My personal aims at the Olympics are simply to perform well, play amazingly, win games, and do all I can to make sure that we go as far as we can and hopefully win one of those medals.
"After Brazil, I'll be heading back to Sweden for the rest of the season with Mallbackens, before returning to Australia to play for Brisbane Roar in the W-League again. We'll see what's what after that".
Given she'll be turning thirty in November, and the desire of the next generation of players eager to stake their claims to be Football Ferns of the not-too-distant future, it's not unrealistic to suggest that Rio 2016 may well be the last time Kirsty Yallop represents her country at an Olympic Women's Football Tournament.
Whether it is or not, you can guarantee she'll be doing everything within her power to conclude her personal Olympic dream on a golden note this time round.
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