In the highest honor for the National Premier Leagues Victoria (NPLW), Alamein’s Rebecca Saber claimed the prestigious NPLW Gold Medal, sharing the award with Bulleen’s Maja Markovski after both players finished on 24 votes each.
Saber, who scored 18 goals and helped guide her team to an eighth-place finish, described winning her first Gold Medal as "unbelievable," overwhelmed by the recognition after a standout season.
“It was pretty crazy,” Saber said, reflecting on the night.
“They put up the Round 19 leaderboard, and I had climbed up pretty far (from not being featured after Round 9). I was pretty excited and thought, ‘It’s cool to be up there,’ but that’s all I had really thought of it.”
Sitting next to her coach, Liam Kafka-Sweeney, they were already celebrating her second-place finish when the third place winner was announced. They were both shocked when Saber was revealed as the co-winner of the Gold Medal.
“I had to get seven votes in three games to equal Maja, so it was pretty unbelievable and a huge shock. I’m not sure anyone on the table or from the club had any idea so it was very exciting and I’m over the moon to be honest.”
Saber expressed immense pride in her achievements this season, noting how meaningful the journey has been after nearly a decade of moving in and out of the NPL. Her decision to join Alamein from VPLW side Ringwood City last year has made this success even sweeter.
“The club (Alamein) is amazing, it’s such a good environment, it’s such a community club and family environment both on game day and at training. It’s been a really good environment for me to just enjoy being around great people, both the club people and my teammates,”
“I was happy and carefree and that’s when I was playing well and that’s something Liam and the girls provided for me this year.”
Looking ahead to next season, Saber is eager to bring home some team silverware and believes Alamein has the potential to challenge for finals.
“We (Alamein) were massive contenders against some of the top sides this year but just didn’t have the consistency so I definitely think that it (finals) could be on the cards” Saber concluded.