‘We can go a step further’: Teresa Polias hopes to lead Sydney Olympic FC to NPL-W title

The NPL NSW Women’s competition doesn’t kick off until the first week of April, but the Sydney Olympic FC Women’s side are more than prepared to go all the way this year and secure a Women’s championship.

Sydney Olympic made the finals series last season, yet were narrowly defeated by eventual NPL-W champions Manly United. Despite the finals loss, the girls finished second on the table and showed incredible persistence throughout the season.

Speaking at the Sydney Olympic FC official season launch on Monday, Women’s coach George Beltsos said preparations are well-underway for the season ahead.

“Preparations have been great, obviously we haven’t got a lot of our players at the moment…. But a lot of younger players coming up into our first grade group and give them a chance to develop and be the best they can be,” Beltsos said.

Asked by event host Simon Hill if the pandemic has posed a problem during pre-season, the head coach said the women have been largely unaffected and are training as normal.

“I want to help players be the best they can be and also look forward and try get them into that Matilda’s squad in the next couple of years. Also for the club we want to win championships, stay undefeated and win every game.”

Sydney Olympic women’s captain Teresa Polias is currently making headlines in the W-League with Sydney FC, keeping the Sky Blues at a safe first-place lead, but Teresa said she is excited to finally return and captain Olympic again.

“In between W-League, fixture changes and work, I haven’t thought about it (upcoming season) too much, but tonight is a nice reminder and it’s nice to see everyone,” Polias said on Monday.

The team will be marking their third season of participation in the NPL-W top division.

“We’ve built for two seasons, the experiences and culture building, we’re improving really well,” Polias said.

“People want to come and play for us, if you look around we have a squad full of great players and great people too so I think the experience we got from the past two seasons will only help us this season. So I think it’s going to be a big one and definitely we can go a step further.”

Teresa also received a round of applause for reaching 150 W-League games with Sydney FC, the only female player to reach this milestone for any club in the game so far.

The first Sydney Olympic NPL-W match is scheduled for Sunday, April 4, at Valentine Sports Park.