Shepparton's Zoe Jarvis has been picked up by A-League club Melbourne Victory from Goulburn Valley Suns.
Photo by
Taylah Baker
On Tuesday, Zoe Jarvis will suit up for soccer training like she’s done countless times over.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Boots, check. Socks, check. Kit, check.
However, the latter is where things differ for the 12-year-old wunderkind, as the strip she’ll don will be that of A-League powerhouse club Melbourne Victory.
The Shepparton pre-teen will hope to light it up in the big smoke on Tuesday night at her first training for Victory after being scouted while playing for Goulburn Valley Suns at a Diamond League event earlier this month.
Jarvis, a crafty midfielder, dazzled as part of the Suns’ under-13 side, finishing second in its Diamond League group among a crowd of top-tier clubs and academies.
By no coincidence, Victory was one of them.
“When we played in Diamond League which was a tournament, in one of my games there was someone from Melbourne Victory who was watching me,” Jarvis said.
“After the game, he came up to me and said, ‘would you like to play for us?’.
“It made me feel really great and I’m really excited for it.”
Matt, Jarvis’ proud father, said her skills alone at the tournament were enough to merit a tap from one of the country’s most decorated soccer clubs.
“As Zoe said, it was at the tournament that they came and spoke to her, but she didn’t have to do a trial or anything like that — I think it’s halfway through their academy year,” Matt said.
“But they were obviously pretty impressed with what they saw.”
Shepparton’s Zoe Jarvis has the world at her feet at the moment.
Photo by
Taylah Baker
Jarvis’ selection for Victory aligns with the club’s A-League Women's academy pathway, having her travel to Melbourne for weekly sessions with the football juggernaut.
She’s an elegant little player who’s fleet on her feet — and it’s no surprise, given her background.
“I was playing at my primary school Guthrie Street, and I was doing ballet when I started too, and stuff started clashing,” she said.
“And then I realised that I preferred soccer and I just wanted to keep doing that because I was better at it.”
Jarvis’ talent was honed at Shepparton South, her junior club, and later refined at the Suns in a mixed-gender environment.
She doesn’t have the luxury of playing in an all-girls’ system in the country.
But that's hardly mattered to her.
“I started out playing mixed, (playing) with the boys as well,” she said.
“They can be a bit ... at this age, a lot of them are a bit bigger than me which is a bit hard sometimes. But it’s fine.
“I play centre mid and I think my strengths are passing.”
Zoe Jarvis has forged her talent within the Goulburn Valley Suns’ pathway.
Photo by
Sharelle Jarvis
Jarvis isn’t even 13 yet and she’s already joined an elite crew of female round ball exports from the Goulburn Valley.
A certain Matilda superstar, Cortnee Vine, first sowed her soccer roots at St Georges Road Primary School, just five minutes down the road from Jarvis’ former alma mater.
Finley sisters Leia and Sophia Varley also played their juniors at the Suns and were on Melbourne City’s books when the City Blues won the most recent A-League Women’s premiership.
Jarvis won’t be leaving the Suns entirely, either.
She’ll still train with the side once a week and doesn’t want to desert her fellow Orange-clad mates after a five-year journey that she said had been “really great”.
“The people I’m playing with, a lot of the boys, I’ve been playing with since I joined the team which was like five years ago,” she said.
“My coach is really great and, so next year, if I don’t play for them any more, I’m probably going to be a bit disappointed.”
