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2000
MARLIES OOSTDAM
A Personal Appreciation
by Jeremy Ruane
 Twenty-four-year-old Marlies Oostdam first came to prominence in 1995, her first season with the then Eden club in Auckland's Premier Women's League competition, after beginning her career at West Franklin United prior to transferring her talents to Ellerslie.Such was her form in 1995 that she forced her way into the New Zealand women's soccer squad for the following summer's tri-nation series with Australia and South Korea, during which she appeared as a substitute on three occasions.
She maintained her good form throughout 1996 and went on to be selected for the full Auckland rep. side, before being named Auckland women's soccer's Young Player of the Year at the end of the season.
Injury hampered her 1997 campaign, but she overcame this setback to win both the SWANZ Knockout Cup and the Auckland Premier Women's Knockout Shield, the national and regional knockout honours, with her club, Three Kings United.
Her resurgence continued early in 1998, as she reclaimed her place in the national side for the six-match tour of Holland, Germany and the USA during May and June.
 Meanwhile, she continued to turn out any number of consistent performances for Three Kings United, and her repertoire of set-piece plays played a key role in the club winning its first league championship in seven seasons. With Three Kings successfully retaining the Auckland Premier Women’s Knockout Shield, they were automatically crowned Auckland Champion-of-Champions, and their retention of the SWANZ Knockout Cup in 1998 completed northern women’s soccer’s “Grand Slam” - in short, the perfect season.
A naturally left-footed player, Marlies’ form secured her a place in the Auckland squad again in 1998, and such were her performances at that season’s National Women's Soccer Tournament that she was chosen by her peers as New Zealand's Players' Player of the Year.
She was later named Auckland Sportswoman of the Year, but despite such individual recognition, she concluded her campaign with just two more international appearances to her name, including a mere twenty-five minutes in New Zealand’s ultimately unsuccessful bid to qualify for the 1999 Women’s World Cup Finals.
 Such a blossoming talent is deserving of much more game-time at international level. And in 2000, Marlies was given the chance to prove the fact. She grasped it with both hands, starting in four of New Zealand’s five Pacific Cup encounters in Australia in June, and appearing as a substitute in the other match, thus bringing to ten the number of times she has donned the silver fern for the SWANZ.By this time, fun-loving Marlies had made Australia her home. A business opportunity arose in her chosen field of horticulture, which prompted the talented defender to bid farewell to Three Kings half-way through the 1999 campaign.
While the team went on to retain both the league championship and, for an unprecedented third time, the SWANZ Knockout Cup, the departure of their “Dutch Destroyer” meant an integral part of the champions’ armoury was no longer available to them.
That Three Kings struggled to adequately fill the gap ever since is the ultimate testament to Marlies Oostdam, one of the best naturally left-footed players to have graced the women’s game in New Zealand, and a young lady in whose company it is always a pleasure to be.
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