Matildas utility Kaitlyn Torpey hasn't been in the NWSL long, signing for San Diego Wave in February, but the league is already having a massive impact on her development ahead of her debut Olympics.
The 24-year-old has had a whirlwind 2024, making the move from Melbourne City in the A-League Women to San Diego as well as making her Matildas debut in Uzbekistan and following it up with a goal in Melbourne to help Australia qualify for Paris 2024.
While she has had limited game time for the Wave -- thanks in part to a lower leg injury which has hampered her Olympic preparations but is "going well and should be all good from here" she told ESPN's The Far Post podcast -- playing in the NWSL has already had a positive influence on her game.
"It's been a really big challenge. And I'm up against some pretty world class players every week," Torpey said.
"I'm lucky enough that we get to verse some of them in the Olympics now, so I'll know them pretty well."
The NWSL was a destination Torpey always had her eye on and praised the "competitive" competition. "It's a really quality league, and that's why it's attracting these players again, and seeing really, really quality players and coaches and everybody."
Torpey not only comes up against those quality players on match day but gets to train with them within the San Diego environment. Players like Naomi Girma, Jaedyn Shaw, Kailen Sheridan, and Matildas teammate Emily van Egmond will all be joining her at the Olympics, while the likes of Alex Morgan make for a world class training environment.
She will come up against her American teammates on the decisive third match day in Marseille and while she is excited by every team in the group, there is one side she has her eye on in particular.
"I guess the US I'm a little bit more excited to play, because I know some of the girls in the team, and I've versed some of the girls in our league. They're going to be a really good side as well," Torpey told ESPN's The Far Post podcast.
While San Diego has already given Torpey plenty it certainly hasn't all been smooth sailing with the coach who brought her in, Casey Stoney, being axed and abusive workplace allegations leveled at club president Jill Ellis.
"It's a lot of the unknown right now," she said about the coach situation. "We don't know who the coach will be or anything. So I think this Olympics has come at a really cool time where I can just completely focus and be here and be present."
The Matildas have been preparing for the Olympics in Spain, putting in intense double sessions in order to be fit and firing for the tournament. Their final hit out saw the team go down 2-1 to Canada in a B international friendly.
Torpey and her Australian teammates will kick start their Olympic campaign in Marseille against the 2016 gold medalist, Germany, before facing off with the most exciting team of Tokyo, Zambia, in Nice. Their group stage will conclude with a replay of the 2020 bronze medal match against the United States.