Tal Karp

Tal Karp (born 30 December 1981) is an Australian women's former Olympic soccer player who represented Australia as a member of the Matildas (the Australian Women's Football Team) and captained Melbourne Victory in the Australian W-League.

After representing Australia in the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Karp retired from football to focus on a career in the law.

Football career

Early and personal life

Karp was born in 1981 in Perth, and is Jewish. She relocated to Canberra in 1998 and later moved to Melbourne. Her father, Moshe was born in Israel and worked as a treasurer for Western Australia's State Zionist Council.

She began her football career competing in the premier boys leagues in Perth. Initially Karp was denied entry to the boys league, however when her brother's team did not have enough players, she was offered a chance to compete. Karp continued to play in Perth's premier boys league from age 7 until age 17, when she relocated to Canberra.

Highlights of Karp's career included her performance in the Nike 2002 Women's U.S. Cup and in the FIFA Women's World Cup 2003, throughout which she was a 'starting eleven' player for the Matildas.

Karp held an Australian Institute of Sport Scholarship from 2002 until the end of 2004, and various state and territory sports scholarships during her club career.

In 2005, Karp retired from football to focus on a career in law. However, in 2008, she returned to the game to captain the Melbourne Victory Women's Team in the inaugural season of the Westfield W-League. Karp also competed for Melbourne Victory in the 2009/10 season.

Legal career Tal Karp graduated from the Australian National University (ANU) in 2006 with a Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours and the Blackburn Medal for Research in Law. and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She has previously served as a Tribunal Member for Football Federation Victoria. She is also a qualified coach, holding AFC 'B' Licence Accreditation. Chancellors Letter of Commendation for Academic Excellence for advocacy performance for the Australian National University in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, 2005