It was in the middle of gym when Bianca Galic noticed that she had a missed call from Canberra United head coach Vicki Linton. When Bianca called Vicki back, the last thing she expected was to be offered a position in United’s squad for the upcoming Westfield W-League season.
“I was actually at the gym with Nicki [Flannery] and she told me that my phone was ringing,” Bianca recalled. “I ended up missing the call so I rang back straight away and it was Vicki. I was still on the phone 25 minutes later when Nicki had finished gym so I gave her a smile and thumbs up to tell her the good news.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be honest. I had thought maybe Vicki was going to ask me if I wanted to train with the team rather than an actual position in the team. So when Vicki stopped talking and left the stage for me to talk, I said ‘where do we go from here?’.
“Her response was ‘you haven’t even said if you accept the position in the squad’. She was laughing, I was laughing. It was kind of embarrassing.”
After the shock had worn off, Bianca, who has been playing with Sydney University FC since she was 14, signed her first Westfield W-League contract and is now getting ready to move to Canberra. The 21-year-old midfielder has taken the road less traveled to the Westfield W-League but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Excited is a bit of understatement,” Galic said, laughing. “It’s a new opportunity so I am going to take everything that comes with it. I didn’t go through any sort of system when I was growing up and I wasn’t a part of the Football NSW Institute, so to make it of my own accord is exciting.
“I have been working hard behind the scenes, so it is nice to know that coaches are looking at players who are doing the work behind closed doors. It has taken me a bit longer to get to the Westfield W-League than other players but I am glad my hard work has been recognised and I have been given a shot.
“Hopefully I can prove that I can stay in the W-League for a while.”
Those who know her best, like her Sydney Uni and now Canberra United teammate Nicki Flannery, know how hard Bianca has worked to get her chance.
“You don’t always get to see the hard work Bianca puts in unless you are lucky enough to be her teammate,” Nicki said. “She has a great attitude towards football and she is just a lovely person and a really good human.
“She adds so much value on and off the field. I can’t speak of her highly enough. She has played out of her skin this season and has probably been our most consistent performer.
“You can see how much it means to her. Some people can take the Westfield W-League for granted and almost expect to get a contract but when it happens as a result of such hard work, that’s when you can tell how much it really means to someone. That is Bianca in a nutshell.”
