The Port Vila Women’s League third place final last weekend had Vanessa Wilson in number 16 jersey busy behind Galaxy’s back line with only one goal against right to the end of the 4-1 victory over Tupuji Imere FC at Korman Stadium.
Ms Wilson was profiled by the Vanuatu Daily Post newspaper in 2018 after Vanuatu won gold in the 2017 Pacific Mini Games, but who is Vanessa Wilson?
She began her sporting career in futsal when she was only 13 years old. She began playing at Wan Smol Bag futsal club for 3 years.
Some years later she changed from futsal to soccer and joined team Amicale FC where she played for two years with Amicale and later went to Malampa FC in 2015, and currently plays for Galaxy FC as a defender.
Wilson grew up in a family where, her father, Wilson August, was one of the Vanuatu football legends in the late ’80s and ’90s, playing for the New Hebrides National team and Tongoa United now called the Shepherds United FC.
And her elder brother Yvong August, played for the Vanuatu national under 20 team for some years and he also played for Shepherds United.
Ms Wilson followed the footstep of her father and brother in soccer, for the past years where today she fulfilled her dreams to become part for the national women’s team Vanuatu during 2017 Pacific Mini Games hosted in Port Vila.
She also joined the team Vanuatu as a goalkeeper that traveled to China to train for 5 months’ preparation towards the Pacific Mini Games 2017.
Achievements
One of her first achievements was when she was selected to join the team Port Vila that went to Luganville Santo in 2016, for the Sanma Provincial Games, where they lost in the final and ran away with silver medal.
Her second achievement was when she joined team Vanuatu to China, an unforgettable memory.
And finally, being a part of team Vanuatu during last year’s mini games in Port Vila, it was a very good experience for Vanessa to meet with other Pacific Island nations that also took part at that event, to showcase their talents.
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She is proud to say that, despite women’s soccer not very popular in Vanuatu, with all the criticism they’ve face in preparation towards 2017 10th Pacific Mini Games in Port Vila, she is very confident enough to say that they’ve made their dreams come true for their country, where they won gold medal in the final with Fiji with a score of 2-1.
This article is published by Daily Post Newspaper in January 2018.
