If you can’t get enough of female football on the back of the Matildas’ success at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, a special exhibition match involving the best female talent the Nepean region has to offer will be played on Friday night at Cook Park, St Marys.
For the first time ever, the Nepean Football Association All Stars will be taking on SoCal Select, a women’s team from Southern California in the United States.
SoCal Select are currently in the country to play friendly matches against top Australian clubs, including Nepean, as well as to catch all the action of the Women’s World Cup live.
Speaking with the Weekender, Female Football Director at Nepean Football Association, Stacey Fanella, said the All Stars team was made up of players from Nepean’s Ruby League competition.
“The Ruby League is the Premier league for female football in the Nepean,” she said.
“These players were nominated by their club coaches and we assembled the All Stars team from there.
“We are basically showcasing the best of the best players in female football within the Nepean region.”
With the Matildas doing amazing things at the Women’s World Cup, Friday night’s game between the Aussies and the Americans is expected to generate plenty of interest among local football fans.
Fanella said the team had been training well ahead of the one-off match.
“We all have had the benefit of playing against or with each other during the season, so we’re all not complete strangers,” she said.
“While SoCal have enjoyed five months together training and playing multiple games, I’m confident we’ll do well on home turf.
“The girls are all on a big high from the Matildas at the World Cup at the moment, so I think it’s fantastic to promote female football and its perfect timing with the Women’s World Cup happening also.”
Football fans are invited to attend the match on Friday night, which kicks off at 7pm at Cook Park in St Marys.
Fanella said she would love to see the place packed with supporters to show their love of the sport.
“This is the first time we’ve had an All Stars team for female football and I’d love to see a lot of support down there,” she said.
“Hopefully we can get a few people to Cook Park to cheer us on and enjoy watching female football being celebrated.”
Nathan Taylor is the Weekender’s Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.
