Highlights
- Burmese refugee girl Silver Bell Morris makes it to Junior Matildas, Australia’s junior women’s football team
- Silver migrated to Australia with her family in 2013, travelled daily between Bendigo and Melbourne for football practice
- She aspires to play for the A-League women’s team
Her first brush with football was inside a refugee camp on the Burmese-Thai border, where her family was evacuated to after civil war broke out in Myanmar, her birthplace.
Tomorrow, as a member of Australia’s Junior Women’s Football squad, she will play against her birthplace and for her new adoptive homeland as Myanmar face Australia in the ASEAN Football Federation Women’s Under-18 Championship 2022 currently underway in Indonesia.
Life has turned many such interesting pages for Silver Bell Morris.
Kicking off
The 18-year-old recently made it to Australia’s junior Women’s football team, also known as the Young Matildas, as a centre back player. Not long ago, she had left a refugee camp in search of a safe and fulfilling life.
I am hoping football takes me far in my journey as it is literally the only thing that I know.
“My life has revolved around football since I was little. I hope that one day I will be able to play overseas or with the A-League women’s team,” says an excited Silver as she talks to SBS Burmese about her journey into the world of football.
The family migrated to Australia in 2013 from the Mae Surin Refugee Camp near the Thailand-Myanmar border.
“Back in the refugee camp, there weren’t many girls who played football, so I played with my male friends. It was the best thing, you’re just running around with all your friends, playing football,” she fondly recalls.
Grandpa’s coaching
Silver Bell Morris and her family at Mae Surin Refugee Camp at the Thai-Myanmar border. Source: Supplied: Sai Mi
Her late maternal grandfather, Reverend Morris, introduced her to football.
Silver remembers him as a “talented player of Myanmar who represented his state (Karen) team many years ago,”
He lost the chance to further his football because he had to flee to the Thailand-Burma border due to the civil war in Myanmar.
“He was very passionate about football so he introduced me to it. Football is my thing but, in our culture, it is mainly a male sport so I didn’t take it seriously until I moved to Australia,” she says.
Early doors
When Silver arrived in Bendigo in 2013, she followed her cousin, another talented player in the family, when he played with his friends.
It was hard because I had moved to a completely different environment, and, the language was different.
"Not being able to read or speak English at all was the tricky part.
“The people around me were very supportive and good, which made things a lot easier. It was just the language barrier that was hard," she says.
Playing with her brother and his friends reignited Silver’s passion for the game, which is when she requested her dad to enrol her in a community club.
During her primary school years, she not only excelled at football, but also represented her school (Kennington Primary School) in basketball, volleyball and athletics.
“From the club, I got noticed and tried for School Sport Victoria (SSV) Under 12. I did that, and the year after, I got noticed again and was asked do a program in Melbourne called Talent Identification and Development Centre (TIDC).
“The following year, Football Victoria asked me to apply for their squad. I did and got in. Ever since, I have played with Football Victoria. Now I am playing for FV Emerging (Football Victoria Emerging Matildas) which is a senior team for that club.
Source: Supplied: Sai Mi
“And after that, I was called to join the Junior Matildas,” Silver says.
Total football
Once her game improved, the distance she had to travel for playing also increased.
Previously she only had to travel around Bendigo but now, Silver spends three to four days a week in Melbourne.
It is a big commute for Silver and her father, Sai Me who drives her around.
“My family supports me in everything – financially, in travel and in driving me around. I get all the support you can get from any parents,” she adds.
“After I come back from work, I prepare food for her and then go pick her up from school. We then drive straight to Melbourne. It is around two hours from Bendigo and when she finishes her training, we drive all the way back. We get home around 11 pm,” Sai Me says.
“I go to school as a normal person and have less time to do my homework because I travel down to Melbourne straight after or sometimes leave school early,” adds Silver.
She also has to try and catch up with all the schoolwork she misses out on while on the field.
Sai Me said Silver’s passion does cost them a lot of money and they have to make sacrifices but “it is worth it”.
“I wanted her to be good at it but I didn’t expect her to become a Junior Matilda. So, when she made it, I was over the moon,” he proudly tells SBS Burmese.
I am very excited about it. Compare where I came from and where I am today! It is a great feeling.
Source: Supplied: Sai Mi
“As a young Matilda, I don’t get paid but it gives you a really, really, really good experience."
“It helps you grow as a footballer because you are going to different places and cultures.
You are playing football, but you are also learning other people’s culture and being respectful about that
“I don’t have to pay for travelling, food, accommodation. It gives you opportunities. It opens up pathways for you.” she adds.
Silver acknowledges that the football association helps her improve, not only as a player, but also on and off the field.
Both Silver and her dad give a lot of credit to her former coach Don Thompson, who they met when she played for the community club.
“He helped me a lot, introduced me to the club and that’s how I started playing,” says Silver expressing her gratitude for her former coach.
Flight of dreams
This young girl wants to go far with football.
“I hope that one day I will be able to play overseas. Or even play like one of the A-League women,”, she says dreamily.
Silver also has a message for others like her.
“I want to encourage people who come from the same situation as me to pursue their dreams, if they want to play sport, just do it," she says.
The Young Matilda also strikes a profound note.
Just because you start from nowhere doesn’t mean that you are not going anywhere.
There are a few players she looks up to.
“I look up to this player from England, her name is Leah (Williamson, Arsenal women’s team). She is a centre back player. I like the way she plays and how she controls the team on the field. I also like a player called Virgil van Dijk who plays for Liverpool. I look up to him as he controls the ball and his team from the back line,” says Silver.
The Junior Matildas beat the Philippines (4-0) on 25 July and Malaysia 8-0 on 27 July.
Australia and Myanmar have advanced to the semi-final of the ASEAN Football Federation Women’s Under-18 Championship 2022.
