Emily plays for Wingham in the Football Mid North Coast Southern League women's competition. She was named the Football MId North Coast women's player of the year at the recent presentation. That's chosen from the zone's northern and southern leagues.

She admits to being surprised to win the player of the year.

"I didn't even know it (the award) existed,'' she said.

"So yeah, it was a surprise.''

Emily's been playing soccer since she was five, and always with the Wingham club. But she's yet to win a grand final, or even make one.

"A couple of years ago we were on top of the comp after the season. But we had a few injuries late in the year and didn't make the grand final,'' Emily explained.

"That was disappointing.''

This season wasn't one of Wingham's best, she said.

"We had a lot of girls out with injuries. I don't think we ever had our best team on the field.''

Emily, 23, played striker and said she 'scored a few goals' although she didn't keep count. She remained relatively injury-free although the last game of the year against Lansdowne had a drama when Emily thought she had broken her jaw after a collision with a rival player.

"I put my tooth through my lip,'' she said.

However, she played on.

"I just wiped the blood away and kept going,'' she said.

Emily reasons that injuries seem to hit Wingham at the wrong time of the year when the big games beckon.

"We go in hard every game we play,'' she explained.

"But that doesn't always work out for us because we seem to get injuries. We have the team to win a premiership, but if we're going to we have to stay fit.''

Emily's dad Bob has been her coach since her junior days. She worked her way through the grades with the Warriors before moving to YD1s and then the women's competition.

She's played a number of positions over the years.

"I probably played on the wing the most before I moved up to striker,'' she said.

Football's her number one sport.

"I've been around it just about all my life,'' Emily explained.

"If I'm not playing, I referee.

"I like the challenge it provides ... trying to be the first to the ball and pushing a bit harder to get around an opposing player,'' she said.

Now the challenge is to savour the feeling of winning a grand final.

"That would be good,'' she smiled.