Interview Transcript


Part 1: Football Story


Stef 0:00

Hi, everyone! I'm Stef from Soccer Girl Goals, and we're back with our Career Series. So today I have with me Charlotte, who is also from Passion FC, and is currently playing for Tai Po Football Club in Hong Kong. So thanks so much for joining us today. So for those of you who are new to the Career Series, we will be covering various players who are either playing professionally or able to find time outside of their careers to pursue football, or those who have followed their passion in football to join the industry itself. So whether you're thinking of playing football professionally, or amateurly, we hope that this series of interviews can inspire you to continue pursuing football, whether within the industry or outside of it. So we can start with our first segment where we find out more about Charlotte's football journey. So maybe, Charlotte, would you like to tell us a little bit about yourself, like what you're doing now and all that?

Charlotte 0:53

Hi, everyone, I'm Charlotte. I'm from Hong Kong. I'm currently on a gap year, but next year I'll be attending NYU in Abu Dhabi. I'll be majoring in Arab Crossroads Studies. I have been playing soccer for around five years now. I originally started with my school team playing in middle school, and then after that I joined Tai Po Football Club, which is the club team in Hong Kong, and I've been playing with them for almost three years now. So yeah.

Stef 1:22

That's cool. That's cool. So like, how did you get started playing football?

Charlotte 1:27

Yeah, that's a good question. Like before, when I was a kid, I wasn't super active, and I didn't really like doing sports. But I just remember, I was in fifth grade that one year and Christmas, we had a family gathering and I was with my cousin. We didn't really have anything to do, and there was this big lawn, and we also had a tennis ball back when he played soccer, so he was like, "Why not? Let's just play soccer." I was like, "sure." I didn't have any experience at that time, but then I just remember it was really fun running after a tennis ball and kicking it, and that's when I became hooked on the sport. And around that time, I was also watching an anime related to soccer. I just thought it was really cool to play with a bunch of people. So yeah, that's how I became interested. But back then I went to a Catholic school, and they didn't really allow girls to play soccer, so I couldn't get started. So it was when I transferred schools to an international Christian school in eighth grade, I started playing with a small team and I started playing seven a-side first as a defender before moving on to 11 a-side.

Stef 2:34

Sounds like you had some challenges when you were younger, especially when you were in the Catholic school. Maybe you can share a bit more about that, like what exactly happened? And did you manage to overcome it?

Charlotte 2:50

Sure, definitely. So, back when I was in that Catholic school, they had a really traditional mindset about what girls could do or what they couldn't do. So in their mind, like soccer was just not a sport that girls could play. So I remember that, I would join the volleyball team and then like, start kicking the ball over the net. And I would do everything I could maybe like, just get a tennis ball and like, kick around by myself, like, basically take advantage of every opportunity to play. But then still, like I hadn't really limited resources, and nobody to teach me. I couldn't really get started. So yeah, it was really hard for me at first, but after I transferred schools, things got a lot better because the school that I graduated from, the international Christian school, we had like a fully-fledged girls’ soccer team, we had a coach, we had a field, we had resources. That really helped because soccer is a team sport, and it's hard for you to play on yourself. And another challenge that kind of phased is that I have really weak knees. So I dislocated both my kneecaps around four times. So it's like every time before a major competition, or before the season starts, I dislocate my kneecap. And that was really frustrating because I could never improve and realize my full potential as I wanted. So yeah, that really took some time before I could like improve and get on the same level as everybody else. So I just started doing other trainings as well as strengthening my muscles so I could get better, and it just took more time than other people. But eventually, I got to improve as well. And also because I started playing soccer way later than everybody else, I didn't really fit in the team when I first started because everybody started playing when they were kids. So that was really hard for me to accept at first, but I realized that soccer isn't about you comparing yourself to other people. And it's about how much you enjoy the sport and how much fun you get out of it. So eventually I just learned to not compare myself and just let go and have fun on the field, still trying my best, but the outcome is not something I can control.

Stef 5:03

Wow, it sounds like you really had quite the football journey, all the ups and downs. Right, so, what do you love about football?

Charlotte 5:13

That's a good question. I guess it's both easy to pinpoint and kind of abstract at the same time. Because the first time I fell in love with it, it's just how liberating that feeling is, like being able to run on grass and just not think about anything else, just focus on the ball in front of you. And also have fun with other people because soccer is a team sport, and you get to bond with other people, whether it be with your teammates, or people that you play against. It's just special when you play with them because you get to know a side of them that's not really seen through conversation or just like daily interaction. So I think like apart from just being able to get good sweat in and just enjoy the sport, the camaraderie and the friendship that I get with other people is also an aspect I really treasure because some of the best moments, of course, I had playing soccer on the field, where we win games, where we score goals, but they're also off the field with some of my friends where we go get dinner after we win a game, where we go hang out after practices. And it's this whole community that the sport brings people together, and I just love everything about it.



Stay tuned for our second segment: Career in Football