When Brooke Hendrix first walked through the doors at Melbourne Victory, the American defender was not aware of the magnitude of the task awaiting her.
Hendrix arrived in February, two months after a disastrous start to the season for the Champions, which saw captain and key central defender Kayla Morrison succumb to an ACL injury just 39 minutes into the season opener.
For the following six games Victory toiled in her absence. Hendrix’s arrival was Victory’s life raft, the centre-back capable of keeping Jeff Hopkins side afloat.
Not that she knew it upon her arrival.
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“I’ll be honest, I did not understand the gravity of it,” Hendrix told KEEPUP. “It was probably better I didn’t, because I just came to play. Honestly, at the beginning I just wanted to help a team and get my mojo back.
“I didn’t really understand until I got here and realised everyone’s positions. They had midfielders at centre-back and players everywhere. Honestly the first game I played we had wingers at (full-back) too because of the international break.
“It was all a hot mess.”
Hendrix made her starting debut in Victory’s eighth game of the season, slotting into central defence alongside New Zealand international Claudia Bunge. Her introduction allowed the versatile Amy Jackson to come out of the back four and into her preferred role in central midfield.
Hendrix scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over the Jets.
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Victory have lost just two of eight games since her arrival, conceding 0.9 goals per game as opposed to the average of 2.2 goals per game conceded in the six games prior.
“Pretty much from the first day I got the vibe that they wanted to turn this thing around; they were determined to,” Hendrix said. “They filled me in on what their vision was, and what they wanted to happen.
“I was more than happy to be a part of it, because who doesn’t like winning, right? And I’m pretty competitive myself, so I was interested enough for the task at hand.
“All my teammates have been so amazing in helping me feel included from day one, and they fit me right in, so it made it so much easier when I cam into such a great team to buy into the whole team mentality.”
Born in Georgia, United States, Hendrix played college football at the University of Southern Mississippi. But to finish her studies in prosthetics and orthotics, Hendrix needed to commit a full year to internships; it was a commitment which almost spelt the end of her football career before it had even began.
“I was actually applying for a graduate school, and I just felt my heart wasn’t in it,” Hendrix said.
“I was like: ‘Okay, I’m just going to pursue (football). My parents were so helpful in that pursuit, they really encouraged me to just go for it and see what happens and next thing I knew one thing led to another, I was at one team and then another, and I just made it from there.”
Hendrix had trials at Dutch outfits SC Heerenveen and AFC Ajax, had a brief spell with Rangers FC in Scotland before stints at Icelandic outfit Fylkir and AFC Brescia in Italy. During her time at Brescia Hendrix reached the UEFA Women’s Champions League Round of 16, defeat Ajax in the Round of 32 but falling to Montpellier.
“It’s been an incredible journey,” Hendrix said. “I honestly feel very, very blessed to have led the life I have so far with this career, met the people I’ve met in all these countries.
“It’s been a lot of different places, which enabled me to meet a lot of people ands see a lot of different cultures – and learn soccer in a different way as well in those places.”
Following Hendrix’s Champions League adventure came a move to English giants West Ham United, ahead of the club’s inaugural season in the FA Women’s Super League. It turned into a dream season for the Hammers, with Hendrix contributing to a run to the 2019 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.
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West Ham faced Manchester City on that day, and despite falling to a 3-0 defeat Hendrix lapped up every minute of the experience. Despite the Hammers’ men’s outfit playing on the same day, the women’s side were backed in strong numbers, with more than 43,000 people turning out for the unforgettable occasion.
“It was incredible,” Hendrix said.
“I remember we had pretty high expectations from the beginning. It’s such a big club in England with such history on the men’s side. They were starting a women’s team and really wanted to go for it from the beginning. We had a lot of work cut out for us, and through a recruiting process they brought in a lot of good players.
“I remember working so hard in pre-season with everyone trying to get the team vibe, and figure out where we wanted to head. Then one thing after another we kept winning in the FA Cup, and just kept going and going. Next thing we knew we were in the final against Manchester City.
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“That experience was absolutely incredible.
“You can’t even describe playing at Wembley, it’s just has so much history. Growing up watching it on TV, how perfect the grass is even.
“They even re-did the whole changing room for us and decorated it, with our names and pictures of our season.
“It’s just incredible, it was so, so cool.”
Hendrix hopes the Wembley experience holds her in good stead to cope with the pressure of this weekend’s A-League Women’s Grand Final, when she laces up the boots for Victory.
“I think everyones experience is going to really help us.,” she said. “A lot of these girls have made it to this final in particular, so they’re going to know what’s at stake.
“I kind of feed off of that as well, not being from here I think you have to learn from the girls around you that are from here and see how much it means to them, and because I care about this team so much, it’s going to mean so much to me as well.
“Losing the FA Cup Final, and when I was in Italy we lost to Juve in our cup final as well, (it means) I could use a win, so that’s extra motivation as well.”
