Over the last three seasons of the A-League Women, there has been a gradual decline in the number of Western Australian players playing for Perth Glory.
In season 2020-21 there were 13 players from WA in the Glory squad, in 2021-22 there were 11, and in the current season there are 9.
The figures suggest that there is a slow decline in the quality of players being produced in WA, but when looking at the numbers of players from the West who have played at Junior and Young Matildas level in the last 18 months, there is cause for more optimism: Hana Lowry, Miranda Templeman, Zara Board, Georgia Cassidy, Ischia Brooking, Ruby Cuthbert and Jessica Skinner have all been part of national squads in that time, whilst Abbey Green and Tijan McKenna have been involved in training camps.
Many of these players have come from a variety of backgrounds and environments to get to the national level, but for Board, Brooking, Cuthbert, Lowry, and McKenna there is a common thread in their development, as all of them have attended the same high school.
John Curtin College of the Arts is a public school located in Fremantle, approximately 20 kilometres south-west of Perth, and offers a range of specialised curricula for gifted and talented students including academics, ballet, dance, drama, media arts, music, music theatre, visual arts, and a specialist football program.
The football program was established by Peter Rickers in 1990 and he oversaw it for 32 years, while the program’s current Head Coach is Gavin Brown. Brown also coaches the U14s Perth Glory Junior Academy side, and set up the Perth Glory Pre-Academy Program three years ago.
The Director of Health and Physical Education at the College, Denis Clarke, explained what the aims and purposes of the program are.
“The program is a ‘strengths-based’ approach to learning as with the Arts programs at the College. The students have a gift for football which we develop into talent, whilst also giving them access to excellent educational opportunities.
“Our girls train alongside the boys and benefit from the intensity of these training sessions. In addition to practical sessions, all students access the Football Enrichment Course [for two hours per week]. Topics within this course include Nutrition, Sports Psychology, leadership, video analysis and biomechanics. We find these lessons significantly impact the holistic development of our young people.”
Clarke also explained what they were looking for from students who apply to join the program, and what they have to achieve to be a part of it.
“We have a holistic approach to the development of our students. During our extensive ‘trial process’ we are looking for students with a gift for playing football, a positive approach to learning, and a desire to focus on personal growth and build positive relationships.”
Perth Glory has recently introduced the concept of academy schools and John Curtin is one of the first four schools to be involved in this flagship concept, along with St Andrew’s Grammar, Lake Joondalup Baptist College, and Safety Bay Senior High School. The club explained what they see as the benefits of the program.
“The partnership will see the schools roll out a 12-month program that provides a unique opportunity for highly-motivated young players to develop their football through additional training sessions, while also enabling them to continue with their education.
“Focusing upon individual players and personal development within a team environment, the program aims to maximize each participant’s athletic and academic potential, expands opportunities for talent identification and provides a pathway into the elite, two-star PGFC Academy.”
From Clarke’s point of view, the partnership is hugely beneficial to his students.
“The partnership provides opportunities to link with Perth Glory and access a variety of options to benefit our students. The improved communication between coaches, management of players’ loading, access to high-level professionals and regular challenge matches are all features of the partnership.
“All football students participate in a weekly athletic development session run by a Glory coach. Our goalkeepers access a weekly session with the Perth Glory Academy and A-League Women’s goalkeeping coach, and we have support from Glory staff at our trials.”
Over the years the program has produced many highly-talented players and the list of alumni is impressive. Clarke was rightly proud of their achievements.
“The first female in the program was Daniella Papagno in 1990. The following girls were the first cohort to go through five years together: Tanya Oxtoby (assistant coach to Emma Hayes at Chelsea FC), Genevieve Barth and Tegan Taylor all from 1995-1999.
“The national representatives at the full senior level have been Lisa De Vanna and Ella Mastrantonio, and there has been a number at the under-age level.
“There have been 16 at the W-League level: Tabain, Oxtoby, de Vanna, Mastrantonio, Tijan and Leticia McKenna, Hana Lowry, Sadie Lawrence, Elle Semmens, Liana Cook, Rachel Smith, Jenna Onions, Nadia Perica, Lindsay Jobling, Laura Turnbull and Amy Thorpe.”
“The standard of our Girls Program has never been better. [Just] this week, we have two girls attending a Junior Matildas Camp in Canberra – Ischia Brooking and Ruby Cuthbert.”
