 Hi, I'm Alessandro Lopane. I'm 16 years of age and I play for the Western Sydney Wanderers as a central midfielder. Getting this scholarship at such a young age is such an achievement for me, my family. I come from an Italian background so obviously football is the main thing growing up. I grew up with two brothers and they have a lot of financial things to worry about and my parents were extremely happy to see that the Wanderers are providing the financial between that and yeah, I'm extremely grateful for that. I'm so glad to be in such a position at a young age. Well, I was approached by Ian Crook from Sydney Olympic. He offered me a spot in the under-13s team playing up a year. Obviously I adapted to that age very quickly and ever since from the 13s they've always pushed me up into the 14s, into the 15s as well. Two years up it's a great challenge and the coaches see a lot in that. But yeah, I'm very lucky to be one of the few to receive this scholarship from the Wanderers at such a young age. Yeah, it inspires me a lot to see the young kids growing up to be men. And the Wanderers do provide extremely great facilities to help you. It just makes me want to become a professional footballer like the new fields now and the gym. It just changes the way I think about this game and makes me just enjoy it so much more. Yeah, just waking up every day knowing that I could be training every day now with the first team. It's such a dream for me as a kid. Yeah, I'm just working towards stepping onto that field every day. It's just a great feeling to feel. And making that elite debut would just be the best, like a dream come true. All the hard work I've put in and receiving this scholarship is just a dream really. I'm grateful.