A regional girl’s only program has been designed to develop players in regional areas and open player path ways.

 

This is a year long program which includes coaching, coach education, referee education and the chance for regional players to participate in an international tournament representing state.

 

This year saw 27 girls from across South Australian regional areas take part in the program, 18 of which went on to represent the State at the International Tournament held in Fiji. 

 

The Fiji tournament is all about developing players not only from visiting teams but also the Fijian National Team as well both male and female.

 

The other State teams in the tournament were also made up of players from regional players some of which included NSW (Country) and VIC (Country).

 

The tournament kicked of in very hot and humid conditions in which the SA team struggled against a strong NSW team.

 

SA Head Coach Susan Bassett noted that the girls found it difficult to cope with the conditions and did not play to their full potential, lacking consistency throughout the game.

 

The following day saw the SA Girls take on the Fijian National Team and after a good training session and work on the inconsistency in the previous match the girls came out and showcased an excellent display of football. 

 

From this the girls developed further everyday as the week went on, producing some great displays of football and a 3-0 win over the Fijian Team and by the end of the week were able to match the NSW team.

 

Overall the Tournament is a great opportunity to develop players for both visiting teams and the Fijian National Team and this can been seen throughout the tournament.

 

Whilst there, the girls were also given the opportunity to experience the Fijian way of life, including visits to locals villages and getting to meet the local Fijian people.

 

A great experience was had by all and lots of learning taken on board by both players and coaches.