Women’s National Premier League outfit Alamein FC came to town to square off against the Goulburn Valley Suns’ junior sides at McEwen Reserve.
Firstly, crowds were showcased the women’s state level standard of competition.
Secondly, Shepparton’s own keen young female contingent was given a look at what can eventuate through a gender-specific development program.
Suns’ technical director Billy Marshall spoke highly of the occasion, verbalising his desire for the club to field a women’s side in the near future.
“It was a fantastic advert for women’s soccer and the crowd seemed to enjoy themselves,” Marshall said.
“Both games were very enjoyable to watch; the only disappointing thing was obviously that we do not have our own regional NPL women’s and girls’ teams to be able to offer to play.
“But in saying this, their coaches were all impressed with our girls that did play, so hopefully in the future we can have our own teams.”
With a number of the Suns’ young female stars plying their trade for the host's juniors, many had the chance to observe where their burgeoning careers may end up.
The main event was a thriller, with Alamein edging out the Suns’ under-15s 5-4, while the under-14s succumbed to defeat to Alamein’s under-19 outfit in the curtain-raiser.
However, what outstripped the results was the opportunity to expose Shepparton’s female talent to the state standard.
Marshall touched on the interest of the exhibition repeating when mentioning how Alamein came to be in Shepparton.
“Their technical director contacted me — he had heard we were trying to promote women’s soccer in the area — and reached out as they always do a pre-season camp in various country towns,” he said.
“This could definitely be a regular fixture; they were very impressed with the facilities and they enjoyed the whole weekend and the hospitality we showed them.
“I hope in the future we can encourage more women’s teams to come up so girls and women in the area can come to watch and get a feel of what it could be like to play in the WNPL pathway.”
● On Saturday, the Suns’ senior men continued their impressive run of pre-season form by rolling State League One side Whittlesea United 5-3 at McEwen Reserve.
Willie Sauiluma, Darcy Pawlik, Sean Grant, Vani Shamoon and Shane Dunne all nabbed a goal each to steer the Orangemen to victory.
The Suns travel to Albury on Saturday to meet NPL juggernaut Oakleigh Cannons in what will likely be their toughest test yet.
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