REPLACING one of the world’s best soccer players as captain of the Perth Glory women’s team is no small feat for Nedlands resident Natasha Rigby.
Rigby is will lead now the leader of the team after Sam Kerr left to play with English powerhouse club Chelsea.
Kerr is the captain of the national women’s side the Matilda’s and was named by The Guardian recently as the world’s best female soccer player.
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READ NOW“To be given this opportunity is awesome – she (Sam Kerr) has role-modelled so many amazing behaviours,” Rigby said.
“The humility she takes into everything she does and how she keeps her feet on the ground and remains positive all the time are amazing traits I’ve been able to feed of and I hope to take that into this season with me.”
The Lords Recreation Centre team leader, who grew up in Margaret River, has played soccer for 18 years, first getting her bearings at the UWA Football club state leagues.
It was after being scouted to play for the elite Queens Park Soccer Club that Rigby decided she would take a more serious outlook on her passion.
“They had an elite environment, good coach, setup and culture and that’s where I was like ‘maybe I can take this a bit more seriously’,” she said.
“I was then asked to try out for a WA team to play against Perth Glory,” she said.
It was this game that landed her a spot on the Perth Glory W-League team.
“It was always a crazy far out dream for me, so it’s amazing it came true,” she said.
The team has had a rough start to the season, with the team second last on the ladder but Ribgy said she was hopeful they would “come away with a league win.”