Moree’s Amy-Louise Armstrong is one step closer to fulfilling her dream of one day playing for the Matildas, after gaining selection with Northern Inland Football women’s side.
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The 16-year-old will represent Northern Inland Football this weekend at the inaugural Northern NSW Football Women’s State Cup Competition at Lake Macquarie.
As was one of 16 women from around the region chosen for the Armidale/Narrabri team, Armstrong said she was shocked to gain selection.
“I’d been playing for NIAS invitational side for a while and one of my coaches told me to go for the trial in Narrabri,” she said.
“And I made it on to the team. I was speechless.”
Since finding out she made the team in August, Armstrong has attended three training sessions in Tamworth ahead of this weekend’s state cup, which kicks off on Friday, September 22.
Teams from all over northern NSW will compete in the three-day competition, with finals to be played on Sunday afternoon.
Northern Inland Armidale/Narrabri side are set to play three games, not including finals.
Armstrong said she’s confident her team will do well.
“I’m pretty confident; we’ve all got good chemistry – we’ve got a good chance,” she said. “We’ve been playing against the Tamworth side who are really strong and we’ve kept them down to nil during training.”
Armstrong has been playing soccer for the past six years and lives and breathes the sport.
“I just love the challenge; there’s always something to improve on,” she said.
“It’s life really.”
Last year she stopped playing in the junior competition so that she could focus solely on the Moree Services Football Club seniors this year. This decision paid off, with Armstrong being part of Namoi Soccer League’s grand final winning team, the Moree Renegades, on Saturday.
“[Playing seniors is] defintely a massive challenge and transition but so much fun,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong is the only girl in Moree Services FC’s two senior teams and one of only a handful in the whole Namoi Soccer League.
With her sights set on one day playing for the Australian women’s soccer team, the Matildas, Armstrong hopes this weekend’s state cup competition is the first of many representative opportunities to come.