Melika Dolatabadi is happiest with a ball at her feet.
“Whenever I would be upset, I would go for a kick and it would make me feel better,” she tells SBS News.
“I started realising I loved soccer when all I could think about when I was upset or needed to get my anger out, was having a soccer ball next to me.”
Melika Dolatabadi at home. Source: SBS News
There are several hardships Melika would like to forget. The 17-year-old arrived in Australia four years ago from Iran, where playing and watching football is off limits for females.
“Girls and women aren't allowed, in my country, in stadiums,” she says.
“I had to cover up (to watch a match) … put a cap on, turn myself into a guy … and we got caught.”
I had to cover up … turn myself into a guy - Melika Dolatabadi
She was just nine years old when she got caught. The security guard let her in, so long as she stayed disguised, but it was the last time she would go to the stadium.
Melika would pretend she was a boy to be able to attend football matches. Source: Supplied
Not only was she banned from watching football, she struggled to play too, as only boys and men are allowed on public fields. Melika was instead confined to the balcony of her family’s tiny apartment with her ball.
“I would just, with my dad, pass it around, and he would teach me techniques.”
“It was pretty hard, the goals were two shoes. It was like ... three metres away, just passing to each other, trying to score.”
It broke her father Jamal’s heart.
“You couldn’t be free there (in Iran). You couldn’t talk and express your opinion. I wasn’t free to take my daughter to the stadium and show her what she loves,” he says.
I wasn’t free to take my daughter to the stadium and show her what she loves - Melika's father Jamal
Melika with her father Jamal Source: SBS News
Melika was 12 when her parents decided it was time to leave Iran. They didn’t believe there was a future for their daughter, or themselves, in a country where they felt oppressed. They fled and sought asylum in Australia, but it involved a perilous sea journey they weren't prepared for.
“It was a fisher’s boat. Like 100 or more people on a fisher’s boat,” Melika says.
“The ocean was going up and down … that was scary, experiencing that.”
Once resettled in Melbourne, football was back on the agenda. Melika was selected from 200 applicants to join Victorian National Premier League club Calder United's under 19s girls squad.
The league aims to provide an elite pathway for female footballers to play at the top level, be that in the W-League, with the Matildas or overseas.
But as her family were unable to work on a bridging visa, they couldn't pay the club fees. Melbourne-based organisation the Charan Foundation – which provides financial assistance for youth in sport – stepped in to help.
Melika playing football at home ahead of training Source: SBS News
Calder United Club President Eric Sirianos says Melika, who plays in midfield, has been a great addition to the team.
“It's just brilliant to be part of a female club, to have a girl with that background being able to express herself on a soccer field is fantastic and I'm sure it'll do wonders for her confidence.”
And Melika is also making an impression on her coach, Ian Williamson.
“At least here she can come and do and be exactly what she wants. If she makes mistakes there's no one looking over her shoulder. If she does something great she gets a good pat on the shoulder and feels great about herself.”
But Melika can’t fully flourish. Her bridging visa doesn’t allow her to travel overseas, so when her teammates fly out for training sessions and matches she’s forced to stay behind.
Despite her challenges, and a future still in limbo, she’s come a long way from that balcony in Iran.
