'Headguard makes me feel confident and unique'

When Olivia Garcia scored her first goal in the Women's Super League for Brighton, you would be forgiven for thinking she had recently come back from a head injury.

The statement headguard the forward wears, which she likened to former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech's, means she is easy to pick out on the pitch.

But it is as much about respect for her father, after a childhood playing "soccer" in Nevada, as it is about safety.

"I started playing with boys back home and around eight or nine years old, boys get faster and stronger," she explained. "My dad – who is very protective of his daughter – said 'if you want to continue playing with boys you have to wear this.'"

"It was supposed to be a temporary thing, but I just stuck with it.

"Everyone has something unique to them as a player, they wear their socks a certain way, or their hair, and this is my thing."

Garcia, who grew up in Las Vegas, says it also gives her the confidence to play aggressively, admitting that her father "is very wise".

"A lot of well-known players have gotten head injuries," she said.

"My dad is very over-protective but he is right, one knock to the head and suddenly your world can change.

"I'm a player who does like to go up for headers. I wear it because it makes me feel confident and unique," she added.

Garcia joined Brighton & Hove Albion in January but went out on loan to Swedish league side AIK, returning in the summer to a side dealing with huge change.

Head coach Dario Vidosic, who had taken them to their highest ever league finish and an FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium, announced his shock departure days before the season began.

Arturo Ruiz joined from Real Sociedad, and in his first two games in charge, Albion has narrowly lost 1-0 to Arsenal, before drawing 2-2 with Birmingham City.

"I will say the main reason that I'm here is the long-term vision.

"Making a movement when you are very good in another club in this moment of the season, I think it has to be because of that," he said.

He said he was "just another step" in the club's ambitious plans, which include building the UK's first purpose-built women's football stadium.

As they prepare to face Aston Villa on Sunday, he added: "We want to do big things, but we also know that at this moment we need patient, hard work and the results will come soon."

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