Sam burst onto the W-League scene as a precocious 15-year-old with Perth Glory, winning goal of the year in her debut season. But it’s not just goals off the boot – she is a prodigious header of the ball too. Now aged twenty-four, Kerr has become one of Australia’s fastest rising – and most inspirational – sports stars.
At the age of twenty, Sam moved to the US where she signed with WNY Flash, and later the Sky Blues (where her six goals in nine appearances in her first season saw her ranked first on her team). In the 2017 season with the Sky Blues, Sam set a new National Women’s Soccer League record after scoring four goals in a single game, as well as topping the all-time goal scoring table and finishing the season with a record breaking seventeen goals. This excellence saw her awarded both the Golden Boot and the MVP award for the league.
While smashing records in the USA, the gifted striker also returned to Australia and laced back up her boots with Perth Glory as their Captain, leading them to a second place finish in the 2016-17 season. Her goals and celebrations have become legendary, with the young star frequently breaking out impressive flips.
As well as pulling on the purple with the Perth Glory, Sam has also been a member of the Matildas since she was just fifteen years old. In the following eight years, she has become an integral member of the team, cementing her vital role through acts such as scoring a superb goal in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2010 Final in China, helping them secure Australia’s first ever prominent piece of international silverware. In 2016, Sam was named to the team of Matildas who competed at the Olympics in Brazil, an inclusion that saw her net a goal in their match against Germany. She was also the top goal scorer in the 2017 Tournament of Nations, a tournament that included a brilliant hat trick in the match against Japan.
2017 was a magnificent year of well-deserved achievements for Sam, with the year seeing her win the Julie Dolan Medal as the best player in the W-League. She was also named the Women’s Health Sportswoman of the Year, was honoured as the Young Australian of the Year for 2018 and was recently crowned 2017 Asian Football Confederation Women’s Player of the Year.