Yazmin Baird-Watson’s football career has taken her to three continents in the last two years.
Latest move for the 20-year-old (21 later this month) will be to join Jets next year after a year at the Western Nebraska Community College.
Before going to the states, Yazmin spent six months this year playing for FC Solothurn, close to Switzerland's border with France and Germany.
And that came after Covid and injury delayed the start of her “college dream" when she was at The Gap (2021) and Souths (2020),
Yazmin will now fly back to Brisbane mid-2023 keen to see family, after 18 months overseas and make a fresh footballing start with Moreton Bay United.
“I had some other options however they just didn’t feel right,” she said, “talking to (Jets’ coach) Greg (Bradley) … his enthusiasm and how he wants to develop a young squad was probably the biggest thing that persuaded me.
“I noticed some of (Jets) previous signings were young players I have played with or against before - and some are my friends.
“I thought what a good opportunity it would be to play with them because that’s what happened at The Gap. Though we didn’t get all the results we wanted, we played like a team.
“I know Holly Cawthorn and Thalia Cameron. I played against them for a couple of years either in school or in the NPLW competition.
“Though I will only be playing with the Jets for about two months I am so excited.
“I want to keep bettering myself as a footballer and I think Jets will give me that perfect opportunity to do so.”
Travel has been a constant in Yazmin’s career. In 2018 she made the 70-minute journey from her home town Mullumbimby, NSW to train and play with Gold Coast United Under 17s.
Twelve months later she joined Logan Lightning, adding 30 minutes each way to the trip and in 2020 it was more than three hours travel to and from Souths.
However, Yazmin's biggest challenges came in Switzerland - despite family connections making her “half Swiss”.
“I felt like I needed a change,” she said, “so at the end of January (2022) I moved to Switzerland for six months. I wanted to see family and play football.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s tough to play in a country where you barely speak the language, but it made me so resilient and I worked harder than I have ever done before.”