Melissa Maizels (born 10 May 1993) is an Australian soccer goalkeeper who last played for Australian A-League Women team

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victor ...

. She previously played for Perth Glory and Canberra United.

Early life

Maizels was born in Melbourne, Australia, and is Jewish. Her great, great, great-grandfather was the Chief Rabbi of

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

. She began playing soccer at the age of nine. She represented

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

four times for

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...

and soccer, and competed in national tournaments at the Australian Institute of Sport (from which she earned her coaching UEFA B Licence) as well as in Canberra and

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

. In 2009, she helped the futsal team make the grand final.

Playing career

She played at Melbourne Victory from 2012 to 2014.

Canberra United, 2014–2016

In July 2014, Maizels signed with Canberra United. She made her debut for the club during a match against

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...

after the team's starting goalkeeper Chantel Jones was injured.

Perth Glory, 2016–2018

Maizels joined Perth Glory for the

2016–17 W-League The 2016–17 W-League season was the ninth season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. Clubs Stadia and locations Personnel and kits Transfers Foreign players The following do not fill ...

season. She suffered a serious hand injury, which ended her season after only six games. Maizels returned for the

2017–18 W-League The 2017–18 W-League season was the tenth season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. Clubs Stadia and locations Personnel and kits Managerial changes Transfers Foreign players The ...

season as Perth's number one keeper and played every minute of the season.

Canberra United, 2018–2019

Maizels signed with Canberra United for the

2018–19 W-League The 2018–19 W-League season was the eleventh season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. Clubs Stadia and locations Personnel and kits Managerial changes Transfers Foreign players Th ...

, returning to the club she had played for from 2014 to 2016.

Melbourne Victory, 2019–2022

Maizels joined

ahead of the

2019–20 W-League The 2019–20 W-League season was the twelfth season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. Nine teams competed in the league, with most of the players from Australia but 33 of them from 11 other cou ...

season. Ahead of the

2022–23 A-League Women The 2022–23 A-League Women, known as the Liberty A-League for sponsorship reasons, is the fifteenth season of the A-League Women, the Australian national women's soccer competition. Western United were announced as an expansion club, takin ...

season, she was released by the club. At the end of 2022, while working as an assistant coach with Melbourne Victory, Maizels was re-signed temporarily as an injury replacement due to an injury to back-up keeper Miranda Templeman. She was included on the bench for the match against Canberra United but was not used, and the following week Templeman returned ending Maizel's contract.

International career

She competed for Team Australia at the

2017 Maccabiah Games The 2017 Maccabiah Games ( he, משחקי המכביה 2017), also referred to as the 20th Maccabiah Games ( he, המכביה ה-20), were the 20th edition of the Maccabiah Games. They took place from 4 to 17 July 2017, in Israel. The Maccabiah ...

in Israel.

Honors and awards

; with Canberra United * W-League winner: 2014–15 ; with

* W-League runner-up: 2012–13, 2013–14 ; with Perth Glory * W-League runner-up: 2016–17

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maizels, Melissa 1993 births Living people Melbourne Victory FC (A-League Women) players Canberra United FC players Perth Glory FC (A-League Women) players A-League Women players Australian women's soccer players Women's association football goalkeepers Australian Jews Jewish Australian sportspeople Jewish footballers Competitors at the 2017 Maccabiah Games Maccabiah Games competitors for Australia Maccabiah Games footballers