Women’s football on the rise in NSW
Recently at the FFA National Youth Championships for U13 Girls held in Canberra, the NSW Metro side coached by former Matildas star Taryn Rockall were crowned Champions while the NSW Country side finished first in their group without losing any matches. In what was an incredible achievement for both squads, five Metro girls and four Country girls were selected in the All-Star team.
Following on from the youth girls success, a number of rising young female footballers combined with established Matildas and W-League stars have been selected in the State Institute program winning 2012 scholarships.
The likes of current female stars Kyah Simon, Sarah Walsh, Ellyse Perry, Leena Khamis, Servet Uzunlar, Caitlin Foord, Thea Slayter, Heather Garriock, Renee Rollason and Kylie Ledbrook will be training alongside some quality NSW products.
Names such as Teresa Polias, Alanna Kennedy, Rachel Souter, Sham Khamis, Liz Ralston, Chloe Logarzo, Alisha Bass, Alex Hyunh, Natalie Tobin, Nicole Bolger, Melissa Caceras and Oliva Price have been put on the radar as potential Australian internationals.
Under the watchful eye of coach Alen Stajic, these female stars have been put on notice as players to watch out for in coming years.
Through the special Skills Acquisition programs for U13, 14 and U15 girls currently running at Football NSW, the future certainly looks bright for our female game.
With the current successes of our female football stars on the world stage and the W-League in full swing, one things for sure, the development of female footballers in NSW is certainly on the rise.
