They say big courage sometimes comes in small packages.
Running down the left flank at Olympic Park, on a muddy pitch surrounded by a decaying red track, the young left winger collided heavily with the Cairnlea goalkeeper before flipping head over heels and landing on the ground with a sickening thud.
As Heidelberg medical staff rushed to attend to their stricken player, the prone form of Stacey Papadopoulos stirred, and then sat up gingerly.
You might have forgiven the smallest player on the pitch for taking the rest of the day off, especially after opening the scoring for her team but that’s not the way she plays the game.
Another 45 minutes, and the Heidelberg No. 17 completed her hat trick to go with her two assists as a shell shocked Cairnlea went down three goals to seven.
Oh and by the way, Stacey Papadopoulos is only 15.
“Every time I walk out onto that pitch, I give it everything I can and just do my best.”
Football cliches maybe, but sitting here outside a city cafe and hearing those earnest words coming from this 5′ 4″ smidgen of a girl, you somehow sense she means every bit of it.
“When you grow up in a family full of Greek boys, you pretty much have to love soccer. Both my two older brothers played soccer so I’d always be going to games from a really young age. [They] pretty much taught me everything I know and my Dad’s been there every step of the way.”
It’s only her first full season in the senior ranks for Heidelberg United as they compete at the top echelon of women’s state football in Victoria, but this bona fide wunderkind has been taking the competition by storm.
Far from being cowed at the level of competition in the Women’s Premier League, Stacey Papadopoulos seems to be revelling in the experience of mixing it with the big girls.
To think she almost gave up the game six years ago, when a dislocated shoulder stopped her training with the Northcote City boys.
“We were playing a game called Mercy… this guy grabbed my hand and bent my arm all the way back where it just popped out of place.”
She still winces at the memory and of the long rehabilitation that followed.
“It wasn’t a good time, I was in a lot of pain and the ambulance came and they told me I was out for the season.”
With plenty of time to think as she sat out the entirety of 2007 without kicking a football in anger, Papadopoulos reveals that she was too afraid to make a comeback till she saw her cousin playing in the Heidelberg Under 14s.
“It was just a bunch of girls playing football for fun, and I couldn’t help but realise that I missed [the game].”
Needless to say, she was hooked again and signed up there and then for the new season.
“The Heidelberg girls before that weren’t such a great team, they came last pretty much every year.”
And did her comeback season change all that?
Stacey Papadopoulos laughs upon being asked that question.
“I’d like to think so. We came first that season and I won the top scorer award with 35 goals.”
That kind of performance was sure to raise some eyebrows, and a beaming father, George Papadopoulos confirms it proudly.
“One day I was watching Stacey play Under 14s and [Heidelberg Coach] John Lioupas said to me, ‘Your daughter, one day she’ll play in the seniors team.’ I said, ‘How can you tell, John? She’s only a kid.’ And he said, ‘I can tell, I can tell.”
The call up to the Reserves finally came last season, and with it a chance to rub shoulders with some of her football idols.
“My first training session, [Heidelberg captain] Rita Mankowska gave me the nickname ‘Junior’ and it hasn’t stopped since. She was really nice from the get go and they’re all like big sisters to me.”
It is dusk and the light is failing as people scurry along the sidewalk next to us, but you can see this young girl’s eyes gleaming with excitement as she recalls her introduction to the team.
“Demi Mihaloudis is also one of my really really good friends, and someone I call my big sister, someone I look up to.”
Before too long, Coach Lioupas had decided it was time to give his Reserves top scorer (11 goals that season) a taste of first team football.
It was Doncaster Rovers away and with 20 minutes to go, the starry eyed teenager was thrown into the mix.
“It was nerve wrecking. This is it, if there’s ever a time to prove to the coaches that I had what it took to play seniors football.”
Needless to say, Stacey Papadopoulos hasn’t looked back since. She’s played all 15 games this season, with a return of 9 goals as Heidelberg chase a finals berth.
But there’s still so much more to aim for, above and beyond short term targets this year.
With an impish grin, the Northcote High School student admits the dream is to play for Melbourne Victory in the W-League, and then maybe even the Matildas.
“It’s always been the dream, the ultimate goal. I’ve always put football a bit before everything else, that’s how I’ve always been.”
There’s every chance it might happen for the speedy youngster who no one can catch on the pitch. She’s made it through to the next round of Melbourne Victory trials this pre-season, and even if that’s as far as it goes there’s always next season.
Whatever the case, you can’t help but feel this kid has her head in the right place despite all the early success that has come her way.