Words: Matt Dorman

Three Palm Beach SC Women’s players will pursue education and football in the United States after being offered four-year degrees at Rocky Mountain College (RMC) in Montana.

Emily Benton, Teleya Reynolds and Sophie Webster depart the unbeaten Sharks following discussions with RMC coach Richard Duffy.

All have been regulars for the fifth-placed side this season, with Benton scoring twice.

Sharks coach Gary French believes the trio’s experience gained training and playing in the PlayStation® 4 NPL Queensland environment means they are well prepared for the challenge.

“Absolutely. The standards in the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues are high, I think it’s a good standard of football for women,” French said.

“I know the girls playing for Palm Beach now that want to go over to the USA will be able to play at a high level.”

French has previously assisted players from the Gold Coast club make the move with the aid of his extensive network of contacts, built over 12 years as a director of coaching in Michigan.

However, the 55-year-old indicated his preference for players to break through in Australia.

“Their dream was to play in Australia, obviously they wanted to play in the Westfield W-League, but they had been overlooked,” he said.

“I don’t want to lose them, I want them to stay here and play, but because I’ve got these contacts they came to me and I helped them in that way.

“I don’t want to stand in their way, that’s their dream, so they will get themselves an education and they will get to play in college over there.”

Despite the setback, French is confident his Sharks squad has the quality to compensate for the losses.

“As much as I don’t want them to go, the girls from the squad of 20 will step up and I’ve got no doubts they will be able to do the job,” he said.

“We’re very fortunate we have so much talent on the Gold Coast.”

To be honest it was just another pathway for them. We’ve got a really big squad. It really is quality in the team.