Woy Woy player in Olympic squad

Cassandra Kell of Woy Woy has been named as a member of the Australian Women's soccer squad going to the Athens Olympics.

Ms Kell, who wears the No 1 goalkeeper's shirt, was named in the Matildas squad which qualified for the Athens games, unbeaten at the Oceania qualifying tournament in Fiji in March this year.

The 23-year-old first played soccer at age seven, starting out in a boys team.

She played for Budgewoi and Ocean Beach before going to the US to play for the Hampton Roads Piranhas.

Ms Kell now works as a development officer for Soccer NSW, plus as a remedial massage therapist, but will have to put this on the backburner now she is in the Olympic squad.

Ms Kell has played for the NSW Sapphires in the Women's National Soccer league since 1996.

She also plays for NorthWest Sydney team the Koalas in the NSW women's premier League competition.

She was first selected into the Australian team for the January 2002 Australia Cup against South Korea at age 21.

From there she gained a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport in August 2002.

She has competed in the Oceania World Cup Qualifiers in Canberra in April last year, and was a member of the Australian team for the FIFA Women's World Cup held last year in the US where Australia finished in 13th place.

Ms Kell was in the NSW Sapphires, which won the WNSL championship for the third time this season, when it defeated favourites Queensland Sting 3-1 in Brisbane.

She is currently in camp at the AIS with the Matildas.

In an interview in March this year from the Oceania Olympic Qualifiers in Fiji, she said that three or four years ago her main goal was to just make a camp.

Website, June 24 www.matildas.org.au