A group of inspired young girls from the all female community soccer club, Maribyrnong Swifts, has released a touching message for the Matildas.
West-Footscray based Swifts held a ‘good luck Matilda’s’ training session at their club on Tuesday, July 18, to celebrate the inspirational team.
Secretary Annelie Fowlie said the energy from all their girls has been palpable the last few weeks, in the lead up to the Women’s World Cup.
“I think the Matildas are a real positive female group, and for our girls this has been really prominent,” she said.
“This rise in success has encouraged them to participate as much as they can.
“We have noticed a huge lift in the club having the games hosted in Victoria, because there are not as many prominent female athletes as there are men.”
At the special training session, the young girls filmed a video to be sent to the Matilda’s before the cup.
“It was really just our young girls in the video, as the girls get older they get more self conscious and even stop playing, so one of our big focuses is trying to keep girls in sport when they hit early teens,” said Ms Fowlie.
The Swifts have noticed they see many young girls drop out after they start high school, so seeing the Matildas in full swing has been inspirational for them all.
“We have girls from the ages of seven through to 35, our sole purpose is to be all inclusive and to encourage women to enjoy sport as much as possible,” said Ms Fowlie.
“The Matildas have been great for lifting spirits and showing our girls anyone can play.”
Jennifer Pittorino
