Kiara Vlahopoulos is a 14-year-old soccer player from Narrabri who is a step closer to her dream of playing in the green and gold for the Matildas after being selected to compete internationally.

A coal miners’ daughter, Kiara has a natural talent for soccer playing her first real game in Narrabri when she was 10 years old.

“She fell in love with it,” said Kiara’s mum Danielle.

“Kiara trialed for the Northern Inland Academy of Sport (NIAS) in Tamworth when she was 12. It’s for talented players of different sports. She was selected for their team so went over twice a week for training and then on weekends we’d take her to Newcastle to play with NIAS.

“Their team took out the championship in 2023 and after that she had a bit of a break, it was just very full on with all the traveling, and I have two other children as well, so it was a lot to balance!”

In September last year Kiara represented Narrabri Junior Soccer Club at the 2024 Rale Rasic Joeys Mini World Cup in Inverell.

Kiara had a dream run at the event, even though she was feeling under the weather, scoring four out of six goals for her side.

“They didn’t send a full female team over from Narrabri so Kiara put forward a single player nomination. She ended up going over with two other girls, Annaliese Hobson and Sophie Michelle also from Narrabri. They were on the same team with three or four other players.

“It’s one thing for me to tell her she plays well, I’m her mum. But during the tournament one of the referees made a point of coming up to her and saying he’d been watching her and saw her take on three of the best defenders and had them scared.

“He told her if she backed herself there would be no stopping her. It was really nice that someone came up and gave her that confidence boost.”

And there is no stopping Kiara, selected from that tournament to train overseas.

“There were scouts at the three-day tournament from the Germany Playing and Coaching Tour. They watched all the players and Kiara ended up being selected for the Joeys’ 13-14 years girls’ team to go over to Germany!

“They get to spend a month in Germany at an elite sporting school training with some of the best coaches in the world. It’s an awesome opportunity for her. We head over on June 17.”

It’s no small feat to pack up and head to Germany for a month, so there has been plenty of fundraising along the way from sausage sizzles to trivia nights to help raise money for the trip.

Danielle said they’ve had plenty of local businesses jump on board too including Specialised Quarries, Sierra Tek, Nutrien Ag, Caral Baxter and Experteeth.

Danielle and Kiara would love any more support they can get ahead of their trip to Germany. Head to her Go Fund Me page via this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/kiara-soccer Donations, big or small are welcome!