For the past six months Will Manwaring, Phoebe McGeoch, Jessica Doolan, Matilda Flanery and their families have all lived and breathed soccer with all four players being selected for representative duties in October.
These talented ‘Socceroos’ play for the Under 12s in the Harden Junior Soccer Competition on a Saturday morning, but that is simply the beginning of their huge commitment to their soccer careers.
Over the next 10 weeks these talented youngsters will undergo intensive fitness, skills and strategic training in an attempt to take on some of the state’s best junior soccer players.
Before being eligible to play in their Riverina Branch teams Phoebe, Jessica, Matilda and Will were all required to play for the South West Slopes representative teams at the conclusion of the 2009 soccer season.
This required them to train over the summer months and also attend a soccer skills camp at Borambola in March this year, giving the players specialist coaching tips and team building skills.
The South West Slopes girls’ team then entered the pre season Proctor Cup Football Tournament in Bathurst in February, which was just another opportunity to develop their skills whilst playing against Country and Youth League teams.
Will played in the South West Slopes representative team which competed in the Riverina Branch Championships in Cootamundra in March.
In this competition, Will came up against teams from Wagga, Albury and Griffith and was given the chance to develop his skills further.
Will plays in the back line, while Jessica and Matilda play in the mid-field and Phoebe up front.
Bound for State Titles
In May the girls were given the chance to play in the Riverina Branch Championships in Griffith and over the course of the weekend the girls’ were undefeated, which considering the larger regional centres they were playing such as Wagga, Griffith and Albury, it is quite an impressive achievement.
After being crowned Branch Champions, the girls team won the right to compete in the Country Cup Tournament in Nowra on the June long week and again they were undefeated and declared the County Cup Champions against Southern and Western NSW teams, which the girls will describe as a ‘credit to their coach Mick Godbier’.
It also demonstrates that small country towns can still outdo their metropolitan country rivals.
Most recently the girls’ Riverina team played in the Cheryl Salisbury Cup in Sydney during the July school holidays.
At this tournament the girls’ were given the opportunity to play against a larger and more diverse skill level allowing them to further prepare for the state titles. The team came away with two draws and a narrow defeat.
In the lead up to the State Titles for the girls in Dubbo and Will in Kiama in October, all four players will be travelling to Cootamundra each Monday night and to Wagga each weekend to work on skills and fitness with other players.
It is clear that you will read more about Jessica, Phoebe, Matilda and Will in the coming months.
The local community offers their support and wishes them success at the State Titles in October.
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