Mary Fowler opens up about having to live in cars and テントs with her big family when she was on her way to football stardom
- Mary Fowler's football 旅行 has been left-field
- As a kid she often slept in テントs and caravan parks
- Now a superstar with the Matildas and Manchester City
Matildas superstar Mary Fowler has opened up about her humble beginnings - 含むing sleeping in テントs and at times living in a car - and how those hard times 覆うd her way to international football stardom.
The Manchester City winger - who is just 21 - is 準備するing for her second オリンピック in Paris come July.
It was a 過程 which began at Trinity Beach in Cairns when Fowler was starting school.
Along with her four siblings, countless hours were spent taking part in a '小型の Olympics', which 伴う／関わるd running races, throwing sticks and kicking a football.
'It was really fun [at Trinity Beach],' Fowler told Wide World of Sports.
Matildas superstar Mary Fowler has opened up about her humble beginnings - 含むing sleeping in テントs and living in a car - which she believed 覆うd the way to football stardom
Mary Fowler (pictured second on the 権利, with her family) has four siblings - and spent many nights as a child sleeping in the family car or in テントs
Fowler's dad Kevin (権利) met his wife?Nido when travelling through her village in Papua New Guinea
'After school, we would go 負かす／撃墜する to the beach and that's where we'd spend most of our time.
'We （機の）カム up with any little challenges and made it a 競争の激しい game because there were so many of us.'
With 多重の mouths to 料金d, money wasn't plentiful for the Fowler family.
At times they slept in cars and テントs, but Fowler is 毅然とした those 堅い days help her 打ち勝つ adversity in life, even if she is now living the dream as a professional footballer.
'It was difficult, but that's something that's been a strength of our family; we take things as they are and 肉親，親類d of make the most of it,' Fowler said.
'That's how I've lived my life since then. It's just making the most of what you have and trying to 焦点（を合わせる） on the good. So I think a lot of lessons （機の）カム from that.
'But there were also sacrifices that I don't take lightly. It's made me the person I am today.'
Athletically gifted, a raw Fowler made her debut for the Matildas 老年の just 15
Off the pitch, Fowler is dating NRL superstar Nathan Cleary, with the couple 確認するing their 関係 last year
Fowler is now a globally recognised 競技者 after her heroics at the 2023 World Cup?
The electrifying winger plays for Manchester City in the Women's 最高の League in England
Her father Kevin is Irish, and he married?Nido, who grew up in a village in Papua New Guinea.
Kevin Fowler also believes sleeping in caravan parks and テントs kept his five kids stay grounded, with the family car dubbed 'Hotel Tarago' 予定 to the frequency with which all seven family members stayed inside the 乗り物.
Athletically gifted, Fowler soon caught the 注目する，もくろむ of 代表者／国会議員 scouts in Queensland, 代表するing the 明言する／公表する in an under-12s tournament 老年の just 10.
Next was a family move to Europe, where Fowler 代表するd BVV Barendrecht in the Netherlands until she was 14.
The Young Matildas followed, before then Matildas coach Alen Stajcic 手渡すd the attacking エース a 上級の cap.
Fowler was just 15.
Stajcic - the 現在の coach of Perth Glory men's team - knew 即時に Fowler was a special talent, pointing to her technique and explosivity.?
急速な／放蕩な 今後 to 2024 and Fowler is a hero for countless football fans globally - and her long distance 関係 with NRL superstar Nathan Cleary also 確実にするs plenty of attention off the pitch.
Fowler 株d a photo of herself on Instagram showing her relaxing on a beach in far north Queensland, where she visited her family in Cairns for Christmas last year
Her heroics at the World Cup last year on home 国／地域 確認するd her status as a 本物の superstar - and with Matildas captain Sam Kerr not playing in Paris 予定 to a 膝 傷害, all 注目する，もくろむs will be on Fowler.
Not that it will worry her.
チーム仲間 Steph Catley believes 'the sky is the 限界' for Fowler, who is ready to dazzle the （人が）群がるs as the Matildas chase an Olympic メダル.
'I get a 大規模な kick from 存在 able to 補助装置 the team by getting a goal or getting an 補助装置. As an 攻撃者, that's my 役割,' Fowler said.
'I think 存在 able to do that on a big 行う／開催する／段階, in a big tournament, friends and family watching, makes it even more special.
'When I imagine myself at the Olympics, that's what I rehearse myself doing.'
