Melisa Ertürk

Melisa Ertürk — Biography

Melisa Dilber Ertürk was born on 9 August 1993 in Ottawa, Canada. She was first interested in gymnastics, but inspired by her older sister, who played football, she began at the age of six. She spent her first year in a beginners' league, moved to the competition league the next year, and played against older children. At 1.70 m tall, she also played varsity volleyball at school and finished secondary school in a French immersion programme.

A midfielder, she played for school teams, Nepean Hotspurs in Ontario and the Ottawa Fury Women's under-17 side, captaining her team in 2009. With Ottawa Fury Women she won the 2010 Super-Y North American title. At university in the United States she played for the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders.

She represented Turkey at three women's levels. For the under-17s she debuted against Bulgaria on 27 June 2010 and scored three goals in four caps. For the under-19s she debuted at the 2010 Kuban Spring Tournament, scoring three goals there, and played in the 2010 and 2011 UEFA Under-19 Championship qualifying rounds, finishing with 18 caps and four goals. She made her senior debut against Austria on 23 June 2010 and appeared in qualifying for the 2011 World Cup and 2013 European Championship. Her limited Turkish made communication hard in the national team, so she took a Turkish course in Canada.