NEW Hawk Casey Dumont is not letting the frustration of missing out on the Matildas squad get to her and is instead focused on her new venture into the AFL Women’s. After a whirlwind few weeks, Dumont is not regretting making the switch.

Renowned for her work as a goal keeper for Melbourne Victory in the A League Women’s competition, Dumont’s strong season went unrewarded with no call up to the national side. When offered a chance in the brown and gold, Dumont jumped at it.

Even from since the international window back in February, Dumont has known where she stood in the pecking order in terms of making the Matildas team, and there were aspects of the process that really frustrated Dumont.

“You know what? I can only control what I can control,” Dumont said with a sigh.

The talented soccer player said she had reached out to the Matildas about pressing her case for selection in the green and gold. While ultimately unsuccessful – other than being an injury replacement player – Dumont was still left frustrated by the reasoning.

“They basically told me the keepers they’ve got is the keepers they want, doesn’t matter,” Dumont said. “They want to keep me on the list which I’m happy to stay, as I tell everyone if I get that call up, and I really don’t want it to be on an injury because no one deserves to be injured and I know how much injuries suck, but I am on that list in case due to injuries and that’s literally what they told me.

“I’m in that extended squad in case injuries occur but also at the time too they said they weren’t picking from the A-League, so it’s a bit contradicting with one of the selections happening, but as I say, I can only control what I can control.”

Though she might not be cracking into the national squad currently, Dumont has plenty of fond memories to look back on.

“I’m loving playing and I’m very thankful, it’s taken me a while to get to this phase but I’m very thankful, I’ve already had nine years of Matildas when I was really young,” she said. “I was able to go to the Rio Olympics, I was able to go to the 2011 World Cup, I’ve been to three Asian Cups and multiple tours and friendly games, I’ve lived and breathed that opportunity so I’m very thankful I at least got that chance.”

Dumont has not given up on her dream of representing Australia just yet, but has realised with more experience that it is better to cherish the moments as they happen.

“The part that frustrates me is it’s only now that I’m thankful and grateful, whereas I wish when I was in it I really did grasp it and enjoyed that moment, because as every athlete says it’s not until you’re not there that you reminisce and reflect and go ‘holy s*** what a moment that was’,” Dumont said.

“That’s probably the frustrating part … I do have that little burning flame that is I want more, because of how amazing those opportunities are, but in saying that I’m still getting amazing opportunities so it’s a catch-22. I’ve got to be grateful for what I can control, what I do have opportunities for, and I’m proud of myself with how I’m playing.

“I don’t need a Matildas call-up to cement that I’ve been playing well I guess. It’d be great to have that, but I’m doing what I can for Melbourne Victory and thankfully it took us as far as it did. I wish it took us more, but it is what it is and I have a great life so anything added to that is just a bonus.”

Dumont described the phone call about her omission as “contradicting” which was “upsetting and annoying” for the keeper.

“A lot of it is contradicting but also the squad shouldn’t be so cemented, it should be who at the moment is performing and getting game time and 90 minutes of game time,” she said. “I don’t know, it’s a weird set up.

“I know as well when I was in that set up, they do like to keep who they’ve got because it is limited time that they are together so you want to make sure that squad gels then and there, because when the big tournaments come you’ve got to switch on straight away so you should already know that squad rather than new players coming in and trying to gel with them.”

Even in her first few weeks at the Hawks, Dumont has already noticed differences between the A-League Women’s and AFLW.

“Even just the leagues and the clubs and the professionalism, it’s just very different,” Dumont said.

“I can see why AFL has taken off massively in men and women and it makes me very proud that other sportswomen are getting that opportunity, but it also shows the A League has a very long way to go, especially what I’ve only experienced in the last couple of weeks from the season ending to the Hawks integrating me into the club.”

Dumont said she was particularly impressed with what the Hawks had to offer from the very beginning. Though she described some of the doors that opened as “extras”, she conceded it should just be the normal programming in the life of a professional sportsperson.

“It’s really nice to see that” she said. “(I) will definitely have a bit of feedback to the A-League and the club once I return to soccer that hey, the standards are set pretty high, you kind of need to start matching that.”

Dumont is not the first former Matildas goal keeper to have made the switch to Aussie Rules, with Brianna Davey having made the exact same move just prior to the start of the AFL Women’s competition coming into existence.

Dumont and Davey are former teammates, and Dumont said the pair have already made plans to catch up and talk about Davey’s experiences crossing codes.

“Bri and I played together back in Young Matildas and when she was in Matildas we went away together on a few trips, I remember we did an Asian Cup together and when I debuted we were in New Zealand together,” Dumont said. “I have actually messaged Bri to be like ‘let’s catch up for a coffee, it’ll be nice to have another person who’s transitioned and just have a better understanding’, and she replied back in that once I got back from Bali we’ll meet up for sure.

“It’ll be good to hear her insights and help with all the extra stuff that comes with it, because I can’t believe how much media, sponsors and everything have already come from this, which is an amazing opportunity, it’s very, very different to soccer.”

Keep an eye out for Part II of Casey Dumont’s story in transitioning from the round ball to the native game.