Shandong Province enjoy VSP experience
Chinese outfit Shandong Province Under 18 Women’s side will call Football NSW home for the next two weeks as the 23 travelling squad members will utilise Valentine Sports Park as part of its pre-season preparations for the up and coming football season in China.
Currently in its second week of using the sporting facility at Glenwood, the talented young female squad, who arrived on the 27th of January, have had a couple of friendly match hit outs, having recently recorded a 2-0 victory over the Football NSW Institute side on Tuesday.
The squad will have two further friendly matches, taking on the Macarthur Rams on the 6th of February before finishing up with their final game against the Northern Tigers on the 9th before flying off to the Gold Coast.
The squad has gone through a vigorous training schedule by the coaching staff, training twice a day, but had the comforts of walking back to their rooms, the beauty of staying on location.
Football NSW CEO Stefan Kamasz was impressed with the quality Shandong Province bought to Valentine Sports Park both on and off the park.
“It’s great to see the venue utilised by some of Asian football’s best teams for both the men and women, in this instance being a very talented female group from the Shandong Province.
“The players and coaching staff have been very respectful to everyone and we have been treated to some quality football action albeit via their training drills and friendly matches they’ve taken part in thus far.
“Since Australia’s involvement with the Asian Football Confederation, interests from both club and country teams wishing to use Valentine Sports Park as a training hub has risen and we hope to see more teams utilising this wonderful precinct during the 2017 season."
A special presentation was on hand on Wednesday which saw Football NSW Chairman Anter Isaac along with CEO Stefan Kamasz present a special plaque to Shandong Province delegates.
Since redevelopment in 2015, the venue has seen a number of Asian club teams utilise Valentine Sports Park as a training hub with the likes of Chinese Super League outfits Guangzhou Evergrande, Guangzhou R&F and Shandong Luneng as well as Japanese J-League side Kashima Antlers use the facility.
Australian Football’s partnership with Asian football scene has strengthened since the successful hosting of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup tournament that saw the Socceroos crowned Asian champions for the first time in its history.
Following this memorable achievement, Hyundai A-League clubs have also endured successful AFC Asian Champions League campaigns, one being the Western Sydney Wanderers who took out the 2014 title while a number of Asian players have called Australia home plying their trade with Hyundai A-League and State League clubs.
