Born Kicking: Indigo Devine and Alessandra Page

The readers’ slot goes intercontinental. Indigo Devine, who is twelve and lives on the Gold Coast, joined a new team earlier in the year and trained over Zoom for three months before she got to play; she supports Melbourne City and the Matildas, plays midfield because you get to do everything, and always puts her left boot on first. Alessandra Page, thirteen, plays for the Power FC Under-13 boys’ academy team in Toronto, supports Arsenal because her father is English, and holds a season ticket for Toronto FC. Her funniest football memory is an opposing coach yelling at his players to tackle her back because she was just a girl, while they were losing – which motivated her considerably. As the only girl in her squad since she was five, she says what she values most is being treated as an equal.