From the Stingrays to an A-Leagues decider: Chauvet's journey to stardom

The 21-year-old is about to be in the midst of the biggest game of her young career when her Sydney FC side travel to AAMI Park to take on Melbourne City in the ALW decider.

Sign up: To the new Illawarra Football Weekly newsletter

Just a few short years ago, Chauvet was playing for the Illawarra Stingrays.

Chauvet moved to Wollongong when she was only a child with her family and instantly fell in love with football. She started her junior career at clubs Wollongong Olympic and Balgownie Rangers.

She began her representative journey with the Stingrays, before moving on for a brief stint with Football NSW Institute. When she was around 18, she moved back to the Stingrays. It was there that she got her golden ticket to stardom - an ALW contract with the Wanderers.

Fast-forward to now, she has been most impressive for the Sky Blues, transforming herself from a fringe player into one of the first names on Ante Juric's team sheet. Now she is just one game away from potentially etching her name in history for the club.

It's clear to see she has made a strong impression in the squad, with the talented midfielder recently securing a two-year-deal to remain at Sydney FC.

A strong Illawarra connection will be gunning for glory against City. Figtree junior Mackenzie Hawkesby, Shellharbour junior sisters Jynaya and Indiana Dos Santos, and Cringila and Horsely teenagers Sienna Saveska and Caley Tallon-Henniker are all part of the Sydney FC squad.

As they head into a grand final, Chauvet reflected to the Mercury on her journey from the Stingrays up to now.

"I love the Stingrays," Chauvet said.

"It definitely cultivates a good community. Everyone's supporting each other. There's a bit of an underdog feeling playing for the Stingrays because we don't have all the access to maybe some facilities that the Sydney teams might have.

"It's such a local and small community and any player that wants to play at a high level will come to the Stingrays. There's a really strong community at the Stingrays, and I love running into the girls that play for the Stingrays because we had such good times over the years."

Looking ahead to the ALW decider, she said it was set to be one of the biggest games of her life.

"I said that last week was the biggest game I've played, and now this would be the biggest, so it just keeps getting better," she said.

"I think last week was the biggest crowd I've ever played in front of at Leichhardt, and then I'm guessing we might get the same, or even more this week. I'm really excited for that.

"I love the pressure, I love the excitement around the whole thing making it to a grand final. Now all we have to do is perform."

Sydney FC will enter its seventh consecutive grand final against the premiers City in Melbourne, meaning Juric's team will carry in plenty of experience into the contest.

"At the end of the day, we're both quality sides," Chauvet said.

"It comes down to who wants it more and who is willing to work the hardest. That's what grand final football is all about. Usually, they're the best teams in the league.

"It comes down to the small things. I have confidence that we'll be the one to pull through."

The ALW grand final will be held on Saturday, May 4. Kickoff is 4:15pm.