Following their successful qualification campaign for the AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup Indonesia 2024™, the CommBank Junior Matildas will commence their journey to the Finals in Canberra.
Hosted at the Australian Institute of Sport, the five-day camp will run from Monday, 20 November to Friday, 24 November 2023.
Head Coach Rae Dower explained that November’s assembly is an opportunity for continued talent identification across the age group nationally.
“We’re excited to get into camp again which is our last for 2022,” Dower said. “We’ve had a number of assemblies together the last 12 months and I couldn’t be happier with the progress that the group has made together in all aspects of their player development.
“With some unfortunate long-term injuries to two members of our squad recently, it presents openings for others to put their hands up and push for selection.
“The depth has never been this great across the women’s game and the recent success of the CommBank Matildas at the FIFA Women’s World Cup has ignited the desire and the passion even more of the playing group and staff.”
Within the 24-player squad selected, Dower has included seven players who were part of the squad that finished top of Group B at the 2024 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup Round 2 Qualifiers in Vietnam. Meanwhile, 17 players will have their chance to display their talents under the eye of national team staff.
“This camp is an opportunity to bring in some new players off the back of their recent performances during their respective NPL seasons and the 2023 National Youth Championships in Wollongong,” Dower continued.
“As several players have stepped into the A-League Women’s season and the life of a professional football player, we’ve decided to conduct this camp only with players from outside of the league.
“This allows those A-League Women’s players to continue to train, play and push for more senior match minutes with their clubs while allowing us to expose another cohort to a national team assembly.
“I’m incredibly proud of all the players and staff that have worked extremely hard this year in achieving some outstanding goals together. As we head into the Christmas / New Year break, everyone can take some time to reflect and recharge as we lead into the U17 Asian Cup,” Dower concluded.
The AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup Indonesia 2024TM will run between 7–20 April 2024 with the top three nations qualifying for the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Dominican Republic 2023™.