| Full Name: Kelly Maree Golebiowski Birthday: July 26, 1981 Hometown: Sydney, Australia Club: Hampton Roads Piranhas website National Team: Matildas website Position: Midfielder/Forward Height: 5'4" Previous Team: Washington Freedom |
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| Previous Clubs: Marayong Spurs, Parklea, Blacktown Reps, Boys’ Junior Development Squad, NSW Institute of Sport, Australian Institute of Sport, Marconi, NSW Sapphires, Hampton Roads Piranhas |
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| Kelly Golebiowski #8 Washington Freedom |
| Background: At 62 caps and 14 goals, Kelly Golebiowski is the youngest player in her National Team's history (14 years, 344 days) to represent Australia in a full international match on July 4, 1996 when she took the field against the United States in a pre-Olympic match. She was a member of the country's 1999 Women's World Cup team and 2000 Olympic team, and also led Australia to a second-place finish at the 2002 Nike U.S. Women's Cup last October, the team's highest finish ever after coming in third in Cup play in 1995 and 1997. She will lead the Matildas into the 2003 Women's World Cup this fall in the US, along with other Australian WUSA players Joanne Peters and Matildas captain Cheryl Salisbury of the New York Power and Dianne Alagich of the San Jose CyberRays. A silky forward/midfielder with mesmerising close ball skills. She loves nothing better than to weave her way past defenders on the attack. Fantastic striker of the ball, and has a deceptive turn of speed, plus good distribution and vision. Scored her first goal in the 2002 Australia Cup and now has a tally of seven from her last twelve matches. Competed at both the 2000 Olympic Games and the 1999 World Cup. Holds the record as the youngest ever to represent Australia in an A-international, making her debut at age 14 against the USA in 1996. Won 2001 Rookie of the Year in the US W1-League and returned to Hampton Roads Piranhas in 2002. In late 1996, she gave in to a painful knee condition and was told by doctors she may never play again, or at best only until her late teens. Upon consulting a top surgeon and strength and conditioning coach, she was relieved to hear that work on her muscular strength plus surgery would overcome the problem. Arthroscopy revealed bone and cartilage damage, and Kelly was sidelined for almost a year. It then took her some time to then regain her old skills and touch. A promising junior sprinter, she reached State Championships level. Athletics was her main sport until selected into soccer’s NSW Academy and the NSW State Junior Team. Played all her junior soccer in boys’ competition and at age eleven, was the only girl selected in the Blacktown representative team, competing in the elite Metropolitan League. In her second year of Reps, was selected into the boys’ Junior Development Squad based at NSW headquarters, despite the then establishment of a similar girls’ program, and would sometimes train alongside the likes of squad member Harry Kewell. Kelly then enrolled at Westfields Sports High School, and in Year 7 was the only girl in the renowned soccer program She first played at age 4 because her older brother played. Kelly enjoys listening to R&B and dance music, playing golf and following soccer and is interested in art, and likes to draw, sketch, and etch. |
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| Australian National Team The Matildas |
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| NSW Sapphires Profile |
| Photo credit: Wolter Peters |
| Career Highlights: *At age 14 years 344 days, Kelly became the youngest player to represent Australia in a full international match. She debuted against the USA on July 4, 1996, a 1-2 loss in the opening match of the Pre-Olympic Games Tour to the US. She also played in the second match against the US and then China. *A member of the Australian Team for the 1999 World Cup in the USA and played in all three of Australia's matches, including the entire third game against China. The Matildas finished in 11th place. *A member of the Australian Olympic Team which competed at Sydney 2000, Australia's first Olympic women's soccer team. She came on as a substitute in all three matches. The Matildas narrowly missed out on a semifinals berth, and finished in 7th place in the standings. *Kelly was called in as a replacement after the withdrawal of Julie Murray for the January 2001 Australia Cup team, nine days prior to the event. She came on as a substitute in the final two matches. The Matildas won the Cup, defeating France 1-0. *Kelly was named the 2001 W-League Rookie of the Year for her play with the Hampton Roads Pirhanas. She was the Piranhas’ leading player with 21 points and 9 goals for the season and was named in the W-1 Championship All-Tournament Team. . *Scored her first international goal came in the final match of 2002 Australia Cup against South Korea. The Matildas went on to defeat the South Koreans 4-1 to claim the Cup yet again. *In October 2002, Kelly was invited to play an an exhibition game in Houston, Texas with the Freedom and took advantage of the opportunity, notching assists on all 3 of the games goals in the win against Atlanta. *In January 2003, Kelly played her 50th international match against Sweden in the Matilda's unsuccesful bid for a 2nd straight Australia Cup , becoming the 2nd youngest and only the 12th Australian female to reach 50 caps. *She was signed with Washington Freedom in the WUSA professional league in February 2003 as an international discovery player. *Played her first game with the Freedom on April 19, 2003 on the road against San Jose after missing the first two season matches while away on national team duty for the WWC qualifiers. *In her second game with the Freedom and first at home at RFK, she started the game against the Atlanta Beat and scored the equalizer to tie the game, the first goal allowed all season by the Beat *June 2003, Kelly was named to the World All-Star team as a reserve but injuries to several starters resulted in Kelly starting and playing the full match in which the World team beat the USA 3-2. *August 2003, the Washington Freedom beat the Atlanta Beat in overtime to win Founders Cup III. Kelly started all post season games for the Freedom in their wins over Boston and Atlanta. *September 21, 2003: Kelly scored her first World Cup goal in the loss to Russia in the first round. The Matildas went on to draw with China 1-1 and lose to Ghana 1-2 to end their 2003 World Cup hopes. |
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