Women’s football will be on display for Illawarra football fans when the inaugural Women’s All Stars game takes place at Cringila’s John Crehan park.

The Football South Coast Women’s All Stars, coached by Albion Park’s Richard Davis, will line up against state league powerhouse and local rep team the Illawarra Stingrays on March 4.

Tarrawanna striker Leah Carlon is one of the more experienced members of Davis’ squad having played at senior level for more than 12 years.  She says the game will be an opportunity to show just how far women’s football in the region has come over the last decade.

“When I was 15 and playing at Woonona, there was only one division and in that division was four or five teams, plus the quality of football wasn’t that great either.

“The women’s game has improved ten-fold over the past decade with the local women’s game increasing to four divisions, the development of the Illawarra Stingrays and now the national W-League as well,” Carlon says.

With the eyes of the football community watching on, the game will allow fans to catch a glimpse of what the players, and women’s football as a whole has to offer.

“We have one of the most competitive leagues in the state; if you look at the state cup, the Illawarra is always well represented at the business end of the tournament.  Last year Albion Park ended up winning it.

“It’s good for the players as well that they are getting exposure.  Some of them I believe are good enough to be playing at the Stingrays level and even the W-League, so it’s important we try to bridge the gap between local and representative football,” she says.

For the FSC Women’s All Stars, Albion Park and Tarrawanna account for half the squad whilst the other represented clubs are Wollongong, Thirroul, Berkeley, Wests Figtree and Woonona.

The team will have two training sessions to get to know and familiarise themselves with each other before they face a huge test on All Stars night.

Story by Peter Prandalos