3/12/25
Above: Michelle Heyman (white shirt) in action for Canberra United at Wellington Phoenix this season. Photo: Ryan Imray for Impetus.
Impetus’ team of writers and photographers covering the A-League Women this season have joined together to select their Player, Young Player (aged 21 and under), and Head Coach of the Month for November. Here are our choices in each category.
Player of the Month:
Michelle Heyman (Canberra United)
Michelle Heyman has scored twice and assisted in two others over the first month of football.
In terms of pure involvement she still sits behind Melbourne Victory’s Kennedy White, but has still been one of the most entertaining and dangerous strikers in the league so far.
Even at 37 years old, there remains no obvious defensive match for Heyman. She still has her acceleration and pace, and her instincts around goal have seen her make a big impact for a new-look Canberra United with less attacking threats than last year.
Even without being flanked by Aideen Keane or Maja Markovski and with Canberra still learning their best on-field combinations, Heyman’s standards and output have not dropped.
She might seem an obvious choice for Player of the Month, but as a fandom, we should not be getting used to how consistent and effective she is.
New season, same story. Michelle Heyman remains elite.
Young Player of the Month:
Pia Vlok (Wellington Phoenix)
Pia Vlok made her professional debut coming off the bench in the 85th minute in the Wellington Phoenix’s opening game of the season, a 1-1 draw against Canberra United. Whilst only on the pitch for a short spell, she made a significant impact which earned her a starting debut a week later against Newcastle Jets.
Four minutes into that game, she got her first assist of her professional career when playing in Brooke Nunn who opened the scoring in the match.
She had a historic impact was in the 1-0 win against Melbourne Victory just before the international break. Vlok started the game and played her first full 90 minutes, scoring the winning goal. Not only was it the 17-year-old’s first of her professional career, but it earned her the record of being the club’s youngest ever goal scorer as well as ensuring that the Phoenix gain their first ever win over Victory at the eighth time of asking and maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
Head Coach of the Month:
Stephen Hoyle (Newcastle Jets)
It’s been an outstanding start to Stephen Hoyle’s tenure at Newcastle Jets with the English-born head coach guiding his side to second place on the ladder after an unbeaten first three matches.
After an excellent opening round win at McKellar Park, the Jets came away from Wellington after the bye with a point before defeating Western Sydney Wanderers last time out in their first home match in front of just under 1,500 fans.
Whilst Hoyle is a native of the Yorkshire mining town of Barnsley, a location that is also home to Perth Glory captain Izzy Dalton, the Jets boss has been coaching in New Zealand for the last decade, including a spell with the Football Ferns’ U17’s side.
Hoyle has injected real confidence and tactical nous into his side this season, shown with an ability to gain points at two tough away venues. This, on top of their big fervent home support gives the Jets a real shout at pushing towards Finals come the end of the season.
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