WITH the Matildas\u2019 2023 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup performance still on the minds of many, coaches at Futsal Ballarat have noted a boom in enthusiastic young female players.<\/p>\n
Director of operations Dermott Tebb said the amount of attendees taking part in their programs has \u201cgone through the roof.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the back of the World Cup, it\u2019s gone from very limited to a lot of kids very, very quickly. We\u2019ve had about 100 girls come in in the last three weeks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore we\u2019d have just over 100 girls for all of our programs and now we have 100 girls in a single come-and-try so it\u2019s basically doubled in size.<\/p>\n
\u201cPopulation-wise, we reckon about one to two per cent of Ballarat play futsal, or go with someone who does, per week, so as a sport it\u2019s growing astronomically.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Tebb said the influx of girls playing the game is changing how Futsal Ballarat delivers programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do programs for three-to-five-year-olds, boys and girls, and now we\u2019re going to have dedicated women\u2019s and girls\u2019 nights on Monday nights,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll have competitions and training for women of all ages and abilities as well as a bit of a pathway and opportunities for girls to go to the next level and become a Matilda themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown Hill\u2019s Jason Hekkema has been taking his daughter Holly to Futsal Ballarat\u2019s come-and-try sessions for the past month, and said he\u2019s been impressed by participants\u2019 growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first session we went to had about six girls, and then it was 15, 16 the next week, and now the last few weeks it\u2019s hard to even count how many there are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWatching the Matildas on TV and then having the opportunity to just have a go with Futsal Ballarat\u2019s been great.<\/p>\n
\u201cHolly\u2019s been meeting new people and coming home going, \u2018When\u2019s the next one?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been good seeing her enjoying it. We went to a couple of Matildas games. She\u2019s started naming the players which I don\u2019t think I could\u2019ve done at her age with the Socceroos.\u201d<\/p>\n
St Columba’s School grade one student Poppy started attending earlier this month September, and said it\u2019s been a social outing each time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been really fun,\u201d she said. \u201cMy friends were talking about futsal and we started playing at school and they started going to this so I joined them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really enjoying playing the game and doing the drills, and playing with my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Futsal Ballarat\u2019s come-and try-sessions will recommence next school term with their regular competitions also set to commence in early October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WITH the Matildas\u2019 2023 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup performance still on the minds of many, coaches at Futsal Ballarat have noted a boom in enthusiastic young female players. Director of operations Dermott Tebb said the amount of attendees taking part in their programs has \u201cgone through the roof.\u201d \u201cOn the back of the World Cup, […]<\/p>\n