Winning Edge Presentations NPL Player of the Month, Rounds 9-12 - Davey van't Schip (Pascoe Vale)

You'll find the word 'chip' in his surname, and it couldn't be more appropriate.

Pascoe Vale attacker Davey van't Schip had the Victorian football community talking with a stunning chipped goal against Oakleigh in Round 9 (see the goal here from 7:15 onwards).

The 23-year-old, who is the son of Melbourne City head coach John van't Schip, showed everyone what he was capable of on that night and is reaping the benefits of finally playing pain free.

FFV's Julian Trantino caught up with NPL Player of the Month, who will be returning to his native Holland in a couple of weeks.

Congratulations Davey. How does it feel to be voted by our reporters as the NPL player of the month?

It’s a good reward for the past month. I’m happy with it, especially because we’ve (Pascoe Vale) had some good wins too.

You seem to love the chip and scored a wonderful chipped goal in the win over Oakleigh in Round 9. Is this something you practise a lot?

It’s just an instinct I guess and it just kind of happens. I tried another chip against Green Gully last week and it went over the crossbar, so Vitale (Ferrante, Pascoe Vale coach) probably wanted to rip my head off after I tried that.

It’s not that I love the chip, it’s just that I do what I think is best in the situation. The chip against Oakleigh felt like it was the right thing to do.

You’re 23 now and have always been a huge talent, but unfortunately a severe injury impacted you in recent years. Can you run me through your career so far?

I came to Melbourne in 2010 from the Netherlands, and over there I just played for some local junior clubs.

When I came to Melbourne I joined Richmond in 2010 and that was probably my most successful year so far, under [coach] Michael Chatzitrifonos. We won the minor premiership and I had a big part in that towards the end of the season where I started playing regularly.

Then at the start of 2011 I tore my ACL so I was out for that whole season. Two seasons after I only played a handful of games. Last year at Pascoe Vale I only played four games, so this is my first season since 2010 that I’m pain free.

I’m happy about the award, but I’m most happy to be playing pain free again and enjoying the game.

When you’re out on the pitch now, is that ACL injury still in the back of your mind?

Not at all. When I step out on the park I just try to enjoy it as much as I can. I had the knee reco when I was 19 and that was a crucial year for me because I was hoping to go further with my soccer, but then to be out for 15-16 months because of complications meant that the opportunity kind of passed for me.

I’m just happy playing NPL now and really enjoying being at Pascoe Vale. We’ve got a great squad and that’s really positive for me.

For those who may not know, your dad John is the head coach of Melbourne City. How much of an influence has he had on your career?

My dad put in a ball when I was like four years old. Throughout my whole juniors, he would watch all my games when he could. He gives me advice when he thinks it’s appropriate but it’s not like he’s pushy at all. He’s just supportive of me and if I have questions, I’ll ask him.

Does John manage to come and watch you play for Pascoe Vale?

He went to Manchester and back to Holland for a bit, so he only came back to Melbourne a few weeks ago. Since then he’s watched almost every Pascoe Vale game.

He thinks it’s (NPL) a good league for Victorian standards, especially for him because since he joined Heart, he had a few players that he picked up from the old VPL like Aziz Behich and Nick Kalmar, so there’s definitely some talent. It’s good that NPL players know that they’re being looked at.

Do you have aspirations to join your dad in the A-League?

I actually only have two more games for Pascoe Vale and then I’m moving back to Holland and going to play for a second division team. I decided a while ago that I wanted to move back to Amsterdam to finish my studies and at the same time the opportunity to play for JOS Watergraafsmeer came along.

If anything comes up in the A-League, I’ll be keeping an open mind though.

Finally, I can’t let you go without asking you who you’ll be supporting tomorrow morning; Australia or the Netherlands?

Netherlands. I’ll be wearing my Dutch top at training tonight. I think Holland will have more problems with Australia than they did with Spain, because they’re going to have to make the play and Australia is probably going to sit back.

I wasn’t very hopeful of Holland’s World Cup chances, but after the Spain game I guess they can beat anyone.

The NPL Player of the Month is voted by FFV’s match reporters in a 3-2-1 voting system for each match.

Image credit: Frank Khamees/Sportsgraphy