A fortunate group of young Souths Strikers footballers got up close and personal with the stars of the W-League when they attended an open training session held by Adelaide United at Wakerley Park on Saturday.

The Adelaide glamour club, coached by former Socceroo Ross Aloisi, was in Brisbane preparing for Sunday’s subsequent 1-0 W-League win over Brisbane Roar and were invited by Souths to conduct an open training session.

Aloisi was happy to oblige, saying W-League clubs should use every opportunity to promote women’s football.

“I think it’s important always, whether it’s interstate or in our own state”, Aloisi said.

“Women’s football is the fastest-growing sport in the country and I think it’s fantastic that we can do something for the women’s game as Adelaide United”.

NPL Queensland club Brisbane Strikers and community partner Souths United work in partnership at the coaching and administration level to deliver the Strikers’ elite women’s programme.

Two local youngsters who were particularly grateful for the opportunity to witness a W-League training session up close were Renee Montgomery (pictured, right) and Cara Confessore (left).

The girls, who play for the Souths Strikers Under-17s in the National Premier Leagues girls’ competition, watched the training session and said they received an insight into what it takes to train and play for a club at the very top level in Australia.

“They do a lot of cool little drills with their feet that make them go faster, and their passing was really accurate”, said Montgomery.

“It would be cool to be able to play at that level in that league," she added.

Confessore agreed that the session had opened her eyes to the physical demands of the W-League and suggested that coping with it was partly about a mindset.

“Their intensity and their attitude towards their coaches – it was at a whole other level, I guess – everything was that step higher”, Confessore said.

“They might be a tiny bit more focused than, say, younger girls.  Everything else is pretty similar, but there’s just that bit of maturity about age levels and physique as well - they’re all just a bit bigger."

Both girls said they harboured ambitions to play in the W-League one day and believed that playing in the NPL would give them the opportunity. 

But if they needed any further inspiration they needed only to look at Adelaide United’s Tegan Riding, who played much of her junior football at Souths before going on to fellow NPL club Redlands United and then Adelaide.  

“We saw some footage of Tegan and got her down to trial and we were quite impressed with what she gave us”, Aloisi said.

Souths president Tracey Confessore said that the NPL was important in helping to bridge the gap between community clubs and elite football in Australia.

“If we can see that relationship between community and the progression through to the NPL standards - that gives you the future progression and opportunity to (play in) the W-League”, Confessore said.

“This is the way to do it - so that you can see that there is opportunity for you”.

 

Words & Image: Brisbane Strikers