It is one that has paid off, with the right wing — who has risen through the ranks in her first season in the National Women’s League — gaining a starting spot and playing some big minutes off the bench throughout the season.
Having played for Green Island, Otago and national representative teams growing up, Park was never quite ready to make the leap to try out for Southern.
But after returning from travelling in the United States, she decided to give it a crack.
"I always thought if I was going to do it it’ll come in time," Park said.
"This year I was kind of like ‘well, I’m 20 years old ... [it’s] now or never, really’."
It was a decision she was relishing, having made some key contributions for Southern, even scoring Southern’s goal in their 1-1 draw against Auckland United.
"For a first season ... I didn’t even know if I was going to be playing, to be honest, so to be able to get a goal is really awesome.
"Basically, I went into trails [saying] ‘I’ll do my best, I’ll see what happens. If it happens, it does, but I’m not really expecting anything’.
"To be able to even be starting a lot of the time is awesome, because they’re a very talented team."
Park, who is studying first year sports science at the University of Otago, credited Southern’s culture and the chance to play alongside players she usually came up against at club level as helping her develop.
"To be fair, the environment of this team is just awesome.
"We have fun, but we’re all at the level where we’re all committed, and we want to be there, and we want to work really hard.
"I guess the intrinsic drive of everyone — everybody’s just internally motivated.
"You can have fun, but we all know when to switch on and work hard."
Southern has made a remarkable statement this season, recording six wins, one draw and one loss, the latter to defending champions Eastern Suburbs in the opening round.
Eastern had a shock loss to bottom-of-the-table Ellerslie last weekend, pushing Southern into second position on the table and in with a real chance of making the final — contested between the top two — after their last round robin game on Sunday.
Auckland United, sitting top of the table, Eastern (third) and Western Springs (fourth) are also chasing a spot in the final.
"It’s awesome — we’re doing really well.
"I guess everybody’s a little bit surprised that old Southern’s made it so far."
But first, Southern are just focusing on the task ahead at home against Ellerslie on Sunday.
Ellerslie has notched up only the one win this season, but it came at the perfect time against cross-town rivals Eastern, and Southern knew to be wary of them, Park said.
"Obviously we don’t want to take them for granted.
"They’ve obviously beaten Eastern Suburbs — top of the table — at home and so just going into it with 100% commitment and attitude that we can win and work as hard as we can for each other.
"Being able to just potentially see the final, in the future, that it’s within reach, is pretty cool."
