ANYTHING worthwhile in sport doesn’t come without its challenges, just ask Western Sydney Wanderers defender Caitlin Cooper.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 28-year-old, who grew up in Wauchope, missed the final cut of the Australian Matildas’ 18-person Rio Olympic squad in 2016.
But she still had the privilege of travelling with the team.
On the surface it looks like an ideal situation to be in, but there was another factor Cooper had to weigh up before she made her final decision.
Father Jeff is battling Motor Neurone Disease and Cooper contemplated staying at home to spend valuable time with him.
“It was an extremely tough time for me, but I was over there to do a job and support my team and we did okay,” Cooper said.
“We know there are going to be more tough times ahead and it’s hard, but I play football for him and I want to make him proud.
“I asked dad and he wouldn’t want me to come back home so I stayed on over there and made him proud and it keeps a smile on his face seeing me succeed.”
The Matildas eventually bowed out of the Olympics in a heartbreaking quarter-final penalty shoot out to the host nation.
“We were hoping to go better than we did and to go out how we did in front of a massive crowd of Brazilians was disappointing, but we gave it all we could,” Cooper said.
“It was also an awesome experience to go over there.”
Cooper joined fellow Matildas Rhali Dobson and Tracey McGovern as products which have come out of Wauchope and the continued growth of the women’s game pleases the 28-year-old.
“Coming from the Mid North Coast and seeing the growth of the sport, it’s become massive,” Cooper said.
“I’ve been in the W-League since the first season and even small things like the facilities we can use and also playing before the men it is becoming more and more well-known.
“We are starting to get more recognition with pay as well and that can only get better.”
"It keeps a smile on dad's face seeing me succeed."
- Caitlin Cooper
When Cooper returned to Australia after the Olympics, she linked up again the Wanderers for the 10th season of the W-League.
It has been a mixed bag for the Western Sydney side, who will miss out on the finals, but Cooper felt they had created some momentum for next season.
They play Perth Glory to complete their season this weekend.
“We’ve had our ups and downs this season and we need to get a bit more consistency in our game,” she said.
“We beat the top team Canberra on Sunday 1-0, but the week before we conceded 10 goals against the bottom team Adelaide.”
Cooper said attention would turn to the Matildas tour of Portugal in February as they continue preparations for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.
“We’ll see if I can make the cut for Portugal because this year is pretty quiet, but next year are the World Cup qualifiers so it will be a bit of a bigger year.”
"Coming from the Mid North Coast and seeing the growth of the sport, it’s become massive."
- Caitlin Cooper