The England Beach soccer squad will this week be flying out to Espinho, Portugal to take part in a three way International tournament against the nations of Switzerland and Portugal.
England will first face Switzerland on Wednesday (5pm local time) hoping to reverse the 6-2 deficit earlier this year in what was their first ever competitive fixture. The Swiss side has vast experience containing players who have been together for several years. The following day see England take on hosts Portugal in front of an expected lively home crowd, again 5pm local time.
Portugal and Switzerland will play each other on day three of the competition, with the winners of the round robin being crowned on the same day.
Head Coach Perry Northeast, who is also Portsmouth 1st team manager, is eagerly anticipating the tour and fully believes the chosen squad is more than capable of competing against the two more experienced sides.
He said ‘Ladies Beach Soccer is still in its infancy in this country but our fixture last month against Switzerland showed how capable and skilful our players are on an individual basis, it’s now about trying to implement the shape and structure of the team, something which is vastly different to the grass game’.
That game was played in front of a home Manchester crowd of over 1,000 people. No fewer than seven Portsmouth players have been selected for the tournament with the remainder of the squad being completed by players from Chichester City, Watford and Millwall.
The coach continued; ‘It’s obviously a little easier for me to communicate with the Portsmouth players but trust me they haven’t just walked into the side, they have put in hours of practise on the sand and now has the chance to showcase their potential on an international scale’.
Gemma Hillier, Sadie Blakely, Rhia Cox, Charley Wilson, Sarah Kempson, Molly Clark and Lucy Quinn all play for Pompey in the grass format of the game. Holly Wride (Watford), Leeta Rutherford (Millwall) and Kally Ambler (Chichester) complete the squad. To complete the coaching line up will be Liam Greenfield (Assistant Coach) and Jason Campbell (Fitness Coach).
The national Ladies team was founded back in 2012 but this is their first taste of an international tour. Northeast, who also plays for the men’s side, feels much is owed to the hard work of David Jones, current Head of England Beach Soccer. The sport in England currently receives neither funding nor support from The FA and so any development is extremely difficult.
Jones commented “The Men’s national team made great progress last year and it’s really pleasing to see the profile of the Women’s game being raised. Having competitive national teams will surely help us to develop the sport at grassroots level where there is an ever increasing demand for. It’s very frustrating that The FA continue to ignore Beach Soccer as it’s depriving so many people of great opportunities.”
One of the best ways to keep up to date with the ladies progress is via Twitter, Perry and the squad will no doubt be feeding back the results each day!
Finally if you would like to get involved with the National Ladies Beach Soccer side, then please email David Jones with a brief playing history – [email protected]
SHE KICKS – the online community for women’s football
