20-year-old Stephanie Pantazopoulos is as fierce as she is determined.

The Heidelberg United striker has had quite the year recovering from a knee reconstruction, but has not backed away from playing her favourite sport.

“In relation to my knee there were time where I thought ‘stuff this, it’s too hard, I cant be bothered’ especially right at the beginning, even bending my knee. Looking back know, say after 13, 14 months, I’m so glad that I never gave up. If I was sitting back in January last year thinking ‘oh I’ll be playing in the NPL next year’ I would’ve laughed in my own face,” Pantazopoulos told Neos Kosmos. 

Coming from a family of footballers, the young woman was bound to find her own way to the pitch. It is however her mother’s ongoing encouragement that keeps her laser focused and high spirited.

“Whenever I’m down she instills that belief that ‘you are so strong and you can do whatever you set your mind to and don’t let people make you think otherwise’. She’s constantly that person I can lean back on if I’m ever down. I know that if I mention something to her and I’ll be right back up again,” she said.

Pantazopoulos talks bouncing back from a hefty injury, her life before football and her excitement for the NPL.

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What drew you to football?

Well I started when I was 15, so not too young but I was previously doing Taekwondo for about 10 years which is a pretty individual sport.

Then I’d been watching Anthony [Stephanie’s brother] play for ages and thought ‘I’ll pick it up, it can’t be too hard’ and then I started playing at Brunswick City. We ended up making a girls team there so I would be involved in the same club as him and went from there.

It’s game day, what do you do to get in the zone before the match?

Most game days I go with a friend of mine, so depending if it’s a night game or a day game we might be going out for lunch or early dinner and just getting in that mindset of ‘yes, it’s game day’ and then we head there together.

We play music on the way there, talk about what we’re going to do in the game, but when I get to the change rooms I’m more of that silent player. I just sit there and do my own thing.

Top 3 training songs?

I struggle to even think of one song. Probably a bit of Drake. I’m always into Drake regardless of the mood I’m in, I just shuffle play his songs and it gets me a bit hyped up.

What do you find most challenging about the game?

The most challenging part for me would be the mental side. As a striker, I always know ‘yeah, I’ll score’ and in my head I’ll think I’ll score and then if I’m not performing my best, the most challenging part is psyching myself out of that mental space.

It’s a whole mind game throughout the entire game and trainings, but it’s more about staying positive regardless of how I go.

What has been a highlight in your sporting career thus far?

The highlight would probably be playing a year of soccer at Brunswick and then heading up the the NPL. That’s probably been my highlight.

Even getting to the NPL, because at Brunswick I didn’t really have any aspirations of getting anywhere higher and I just made my way there.

How has football impacted your life?

Overall it’s impacted me in the most positive way it ever could. It’s impacted me in the way where I’ve made so many friendships that I never would have made. The people you meet and the girls I play with, they’ve just become like family.

I know that regardless of how I’m feeling or if I’m not getting along with other people, that I will always have the soccer girls there. It’s made me feel like I have a whole massive family of girls that are always there.

What is something you learned about yourself through playing the game?

I’ve probably learnt that regardless of how you go doing anything in life, you can always grow from it. Like with my knee, my setback from that, I thought the world was ending when it happened but coming back from it, I realised you can bounce back and become better at anything.

It’s the same with having a job, if you lose your job you can come back stronger and get a better job. The resilience to keep going is probably the biggest thing I’ve learnt.

What do you hope to achieve in the next year?

In the next year I want to be in the starting 11’s and start pushing back into that. That’s probably my goal, becoming as fit as I was prior to my knee.

What’s something someone might be surprised to learn about you?

I used to do Taekwondo for 10 years and I would travel Australia for it, like national champions. Not many people know that about me because now they just see me in soccer.

Favourite way to unwind after a game?

Probably just driving home, music on, get home, have a quick shower and jump straight into bed with some Netflix on.

What are you most looking forward to in 2021?

I’m looking forward to making new friendships with the new girls that are at the club. Coming back there’s people that I haven’t had the chance to meet yet and vibe with. Just making those friendships and getting back to full fitness I guess.

What is something you want to be remembered by?

What I want to leave behind is being able to give confidence to females to speak up. I’ve been at clubs where you might get knocked back for speaking up or speaking your mind. I just want be known as someone who advocates for women being confident and not having to be in the shadows.

What do you think is the greatest misconception of women in sport?

Probably that we’re not capable of doing the same things as men. There was heaps of talk of making women’s soccer pitches smaller than the men’s, but we are so capable of doing the exact same as the men but people underestimate us.

Even with things where I’ve been told ‘men are faster than women in soccer’ and things like that, it’s so ridiculous.