Female Football Thriving at Essendon Royals
The Essendon Royals female football program is thriving from top to bottom in 2022, with fantastic growth in participation and some great success on the park.
The Royals have seen incredible growth in our female football program – which originally started over 20 years ago when the club first introduced senior women to the club.
The Royals have 160 female footballers registered for Season 2022, not including the young girls who are taking their first footballing steps in the Royals Kick-Starters program on Saturday mornings.
With teams ranging from Under-10s to Under-16s and our senior and reserves women’s squad, the club has 10 female-only teams this season, with hopes of adding at least two more next season, as the club tries to keep up with the demand for positions from female footballers.
Whilst results and ladders are not kept for our youngest teams, our Under-10 and Under-11 girls have played some beautiful football so early in their young careers, with both sides undefeated as of a week ago and scoring well over 100 goals in the process.
Under-12 Girls Red coach Chris Michail has been working with his players for a number of years now and said he was delighted with the way his girls were showing patience and composure in their football and overall development.
“The U/12 Red Girls team philosophy is simple. Stick to the process and the end result looks after itself,” he said.
“The girls’ patience, faith and perseverance with their coaches and training have seen them develop from a group of kids content with measuring their success by individual statistics to a team that values the small contributions that are needed by all players to ensure the success of the team,” he said.
Under-12 Girls White Team Manager Marco Gesualdi was full of praise for the manner in which his side has started the season.
“We initially lost four strong players, but the girls have willingly stepped up and our new recruits, some who haven’t played before have been very valuable contributors. The most rewarding part is that the girls have really come together as a team,” he said.
“Their confidence is growing and they enjoy their time training and getting on the pitch on Sundays. Our parents are very supportive and we all want our girls to succeed.
“So far the team has not lost a game, has moved up into a higher league, and are looking strong to finish out the year and further their development.”
Our under-13 girls are also enjoying a strong season, with our under-14s team sitting in mid-table.
Our two under-16 girls teams have also performed well, with a number of players also progressing into our senior women’s set-up.
Of course, the club’s senior women teams are both having incredible seasons with our Senior Women currently sitting second in State League 1 North-West, and our Reserves top of the table in their respective competitions.
Senior Women’s Coach Vince Battiato has been delighted with the progress made by his squad but is excited by the potential of the group of juniors coming through behind them.
“The junior girls’ pathway is alive and well at Essendon Royals,” he said.
With a huge influx of new faces in the senior Women’s program this season, new coach Battiato took the opportunity to create a visible pathway for the junior girls to have exposure to the senior program.
With a multitude of girls teams, Battiato; together with under 16s coach Johnny Di Lorenzo; introduced a program whereby two under 16s girls train with the Senior Women’s Reserves squad every Tuesday night.
A number of 16s players have been exposed to senior football training from the start of the season with Lola Ferrante & Angelique Basile both making impressive appearances for the Reserves squad this season.
In fact, Ferrante took to senior football so well that she is now formally a part of the Reserves squad despite the fact that she is just a tender age of 14.
“The idea was spawned from the Reserve squad’s lack of a goalkeeper this season. The two under 16s goalkeepers at the club; Alyssia Ierardo and Elissa Pasqualone; have shared the responsibility between the sticks in all 10 of the Reserves fixtures this season,” he said.
“And a fine job they are both doing in senior football; the Reserves having 10 wins from 10 matches with a goal difference of +80 and having conceded only 4 goals in that time.
“The visibility of the junior pathway leading to senior football this season will continue to shine at Royals with more young girls believing they too can aspire to play senior football.”
Essendon Royals Technical Director Michael Curcija said it was pleasing to see the pathway in action at the Royals and was delighted with the fun footballing environment that is helping to see our young girls thrive.
“Every one of our junior girls’ teams have a mixture of girls with experience that have played the game before alongside girls who are first-year players,” he said.
“We believe that all players irrespective of ability or experience deserve an opportunity to play and experience the sport. We want our girls to love playing soccer and to develop into the best players and people they can be.
“At the Royals, we place equal importance on each of our footballing departments. All our junior girls’ teams receive the level of guidance, structure and coaching that they deserve.
“We hope to be able to continue that, whilst maintaining a visible pathway into senior football.”
The club is looking for Expressions of Interest from female footballers for the 2023 season.
If you are looking at joining a club that values its female participants and provides equal opportunity for first-time players as well as players looking to advance their skillset and push themselves to be the best they can be, the Royals are a great fit for you.
If your daughter is aged 4-9, she can register for our Saturday morning Kick-Starters program, which provides a fun and helpful environment for new players taking their first steps in the sport.
Add your name to the waiting list for 2023 to learn more about playing opportunities next season later in the year.