HER soccer skills make it hard to believe, but Melbourne Victory and Box Hill Inter goalkeeper Cassandra Dimovski started playing the sport just four years ago.
The youngest of three, Dimovski says she was always the sporty child in her family. She played basketball for nine years, before she gave it up to focus on the beautiful game.
When she was 14, the Lower Plenty teenager was spotted by one of her teachers while playing soccer for her school, Templestowe College.
‘‘She saw me mucking around and thought I had a bit of natural talent so suggested I come down to her club,’’ recalls Dimovski.
She soon made an impression at the Eltham Redbacks. After playing as a midfielder for several years, one day her coach decided to put her in goals as a joke. To her surprise, Dimovski found she liked playing goalkeeper.
‘‘It was fun. Slowly, I began to enjoy goals more and I just stayed there,’’ she says.
Two years ago, Dimovski joined the Football Federation’s National Training Centre in Victoria with her sights set on playing in the W-League, Australia’s top women’s league.
She also joined Box Hill Inter, a club with the reputation as having one of the most formidable women’s teams in the state and the home club of Melissa Barbieri, Australian goalkeeper and captain of the Matildas.
Playing with Barbieri has been an inspiration for Dimovski. ‘‘She taught me a lot and took me under her wing,’’ she says.
Last season, Dimovski was also selected to play for Melbourne Victory in the W-League.
She says playing in the W-League as a second goalkeeper has been a steep learning curve.
‘‘I definitely improved a lot. I’ve never learnt so much in such a short space of time. It is a great motivation. It makes you work harder, and when you are with better players that is when you really push yourself.’’
Now, the 18-year-old is back at the National Training Centre where she will be training intensively five days a week for the next year. Dimovski hopes to again be selected in the W-League next season and eventually secure a coveted spot in the Matildas side.
While women’s soccer doesn’t have the profile or the salaries of the men’s game, Dimovski says the women’s game is growing in popularity.
‘‘I think in a few more years it will be in a really good place,’’ she says.
‘‘We play a totally different game than the men. The women are a bit more attacking. We don’t hold possession as much. It is always attacking so it is always exciting,’’ she says.
Although Dimovski would like eventually to play overseas, she is focused for now on improving her game and finishing her personal training qualifications.
‘‘I’m the type of person to just take things as they come ... most goalkeepers don’t hit their peak for a few more years, and I’ve done well so far.’’
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