Grace Wilson (soccer)

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Grace Wilson
Personal information
Full name Grace Carty Wilson [1]
Date of birth (2005-03-05) 5 March 2005 (age 19)
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2021–2024 Adelaide United 1 (0)
International career
2024 Australia U-20 0 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Grace Wilson (born 4 March 2005) is an Australian professional footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for Adelaide United in the A-League Women league and the Australia women's national under-20 soccer team (Young Matildas). They are the first Australian professional soccer player to come out as non-binary.

Contents

Early life and education

Grace Wilson was born on 4 March 2005. [2]

Youth career

At the age of 12, Wilson was selected by SAPSASA (South Australian Primary School Amateur Sports Association) to train in association football. [3]

They played in various girls' teams while in high school, as well as Football SA U15 Girls, [4] and then played for Adelaide University SC. [5]

Club career

In 2021, aged 16, Wilson played eight games with Football South Australia NTC. [6] In December 2021, they signed by Adelaide United. [5] for the 2021/2022 season. [6]

They represented FSA NTC as number one goalie in the WPNL (SA) after the end of the A-League season in March 2022, [5] where they also had a leadership position. [3]

In September 2022, they rejoined Adelaide United on an amateur basis. [5]

In May 2024, Adelaide United announced Wilson's departure. [7]

International career

In February 2024, Wilson, along with 22 other players, was called up to play with the Young Matildas for the 2024 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup, taking place on 3–16 March 2024 in Uzbekistan. [8]

Recognition

On 8 October 2022 Wilson was named as Female Rising Star for their season with Football SA NTC, in Football South Australia's annual awards night. [9]

Personal life

Wilson's sister also plays or played as goalkeeper. [3]

Having had family members who had died of cancer, while still at school, Wilson had their long hair cut off and head shaved in order to raise funds for the Leukaemia Foundation. They raised A$1,000 as an individual, taking advantage of their social media profile, and also donated their ponytail to the charity. Their school also raised over A$10,000 on the day. [3]

On 1 March 2024 it was widely reported in Australian mainstream media and LGBT online sources that Wilson had just come out as non-binary, making them the first professional footballer in the country to do so. [10] [11] [12] Adelaide United pledged their support and solidarity with Wilson. [13] [14] Wilson said, in an interview with Adelaide United: "“My gender and my perception of gender doesn’t fit into the western standards of man or woman... For me personally, I don’t really feel anywhere near that. I feel separated from that. Other non-binary people might feel in between or a bit of both, or they may have that fluidity." [15]

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References

  1. ↑ "AFF U18 Women's Championship 2022 Group B" (PDF). ASEAN Football Federation . Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  2. ↑ "Grace Wilson Biography". ESPN. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "'World's Grace-est Shave'". Football SA. 27 February 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  4. ↑ "Player Statistics". GameDay. 18 August 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "United signs Jenna Farrow and Grace Wilson". Adelaide United . 21 September 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  6. 1 2 "Grace Wilson". Adelaide United. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  7. ↑ "Reds Announce Liberty A-League Women Departures". Adelaide United . 9 May 2024.
  8. ↑ "CommBank Young Matildas 23-player squad confirmed for AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2024™". Matildas. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  9. ↑ "Football South Australia's annual awards night, the RAA Celebration of Football announces the award winners for the 2022 home and away season". Football SA. 10 October 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  10. ↑ Bahr, Jessica (1 March 2024). "Grace Wilson makes history as Australia's first non-binary professional footballer". SBS News . Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  11. ↑ Hytner, Mike (1 March 2024). "Young Matildas player Grace Wilson becomes first professional Australian footballer to come out as non-binary". The Guardian . Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  12. ↑ Pillarisetty, Anisha (1 March 2024). "Adelaide United's Grace Wilson becomes Australia's first professional soccer player to come out as non-binary". ABC News. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  13. ↑ "United's Grace Wilson Makes Groundbreaking Announcement: Embraces Non-Binary Identity". Adelaide United. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  14. ↑ "Grace Wilson is the A-Leagues first openly non-binary player". The Inner Sanctum. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  15. ↑ "Adelaide GK becomes first A-Leagues player to come out as non-binary: Their story, in their words". A-Leagues. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
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