WITH young female soccer players set to test their skills in the second annual Western United Cup, members of the Buninyong Soccer Club are looking to field a team into the competition.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s event is set to run at Morshead Park from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 September and the Redbacks\u2019 mixed under 13s coach Katherine Preston said they\u2019re looking for more players to take part.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got three girls and we need 11,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re all mixed at the moment so we\u2019re really pushing for a girls\u2019 team of our own. Last season we had about seven girls.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughter was involved with the competition last season and that only came together at the end so we\u2019re hoping we can pull this off.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Redbacks\u2019 girls took place in the competition\u2019s first iteration last year after merging a team together with members of the Surf Coast Football Club.<\/p>\n
Ms Preston said returning to the Western United Cup competition will be a great experience for young female players.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, it was a good showcase for the girls to showcase their skills, and they got to meet some of the Western United players as well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we came fourth that time. It\u2019s a whole weekend of soccer. The whole experience is a nice opportunity for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
With two come and try sessions held in the past two weeks for the competition, the club currently has 13 under 13s players as well as two under 11s boys teams featuring a single female player.<\/p>\n
Having joined the Redbacks about two years ago after moving from Lara United, Preston said filling female soccer teams isn\u2019t an uncommon problem for Ballarat clubs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very different from Geelong,\u201d she said. \u201cThe intake of girls over here compared to there is a big divide. At Lara, it was probably 60 per cent boys, 40 per cent girls.<\/p>\n
\u201cBallarat soccer for girls, I feel, has gone backwards a bit in recent years. I think that\u2019s the idea of the Cup. If we keep chipping away it though, we might get there with a team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WITH young female soccer players set to test their skills in the second annual Western United Cup, members of the Buninyong Soccer Club are looking to field a team into the competition. This year\u2019s event is set to run at Morshead Park from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 September and the Redbacks\u2019 mixed under 13s […]<\/p>\n