Matildas Coach Tom Sermani was just one of many enthusiastic supporters watching the Newcastle Jets defeat Canberra United 2-1 in the opening week of the national Women’s League on Sunday.
Matildas Coach Tom Sermani was just one of many enthusiastic supporters watching the Newcastle Jets defeat Canberra United 2-1 in the opening week of the national Women-s League on Sunday.
With the competition officially kicking off on Saturday, the league has already received much praise for its ability to produce entertaining and skillful football.
“I-m really looking forward to the game today because I believe it-s been a great weekend already with good crowds, good goals and really good football.” Sermani said
“Today what I think we-re seeing are two evenly matched teams and two teams who probably have a sneaking chance of getting to the finals”.
With the growing success of the Men-s A-league across the country, promoters are hoping the W-league will also attract the same support nationwide.
Looking to recruit new players for the national team at the end of the season, Sermani is a firm believer that the W-league is the perfect first step towards the development of a successful women-s league in Australia.
“I think the W-league is a huge asset to women-s football,” he said. “Coming towards the end of this tournament I-ll be making some difficult decisions in relation to the formation of the national squad and for some players this is critical for their future as part of the national team.”
With players such as Newcastle Jets- Cheryl Salisbury and Canberra United-s Caitlin Munoz already part of the Matildas squad, the W-league will be a chance for younger players to show-off their football skills in front of a national audience.
“ I think what we-re supposed to see in this competition is someone who perhaps hasn-t been on the radar before as well as see how the younger players match up to the more established players in the competition.” Sermani said. “In regards to recruiting new players, these are the sort of things I-ll be looking for”.
