CommBank Young Matildas head coach Leah Blayney has named Alexia Apostolakis, Bryleeh Henry and Sheridan Gallagher in a training camp from 10-16 May 2022.
The Australian Women’s U-20 squad will train at Blacktown International Sportspark as they continue their preparations for the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2022™ to be held in August this year.
This will be the second time the U-20 Women’s World Cup hopefuls will come together. A two-week training camp and international series against New Zealand last month finished with a win and a draw for the Aussies. Since that series the players have returned to club football in the state National Premier Leagues (NPL) competitions.
Eleven different clubs and four Institute programs are represented in the training squad that includes players from six different Member Federations across the country. Three players have earned a first call up to the U-20 level including defender Alexia Apostolakis, forward Abbey Lemon and midfielder Paige Zois.
Blayney welcomed the return of the players into another national team camp as they continue to lay the foundations for their World Cup campaign.
“In building towards the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™, we have put together a strategy that gradually allows for the players to expand their knowledge in a considered manner,” Blayney said.
“With this camp we will introduce the next set of concepts, reinforce the positives that came out of the review of the April internationals, while continuing to foster cohesion and understanding within the team.”
“In terms of squad selection, the door continues to remain open, and we will still have the purpose of rewarding impressive performances. We have added some new faces to this camp as acknowledgement of strong a A-Leagues Women season and bringing in those who are currently performing in their NPL environments across the country.”
“Over the coming months we will be closely monitoring how all eligible potential players are progressing to ensure that we capture all the players that can enhance us in August.”
Later this week Blayney and the CommBank Young Matildas’ group stage opponents will be revealed when the Official Draw takes place in the early hours of the morning on Friday, 6 May at the Teatro Nacional in San Jose, Costa Rica.
COMMBANK YOUNG MATILDAS SQUAD | TRAINING CAMP | 10 – 16 MAY 2022
| NAME | POSITION | CLUB / MEMBER FEDERATION |
| Alexia APOSTOLAKIS | Defender | Football NSW Institute / Football NSW |
| Naomi CHINNAMA | Defender | Blacktown Spartans / Football Victoria |
| Jynaya DOS SANTOS | Forward | Football NSW Institute / Football NSW |
| Kirsty FENTON | Defender | NWS Spirit FC / NNSW Football |
| Gemma FERRIS | Defender | Football NSW Institute / Football NSW |
| Daniela GALIC | Midfielder | Football NSW Institute / Football NSW |
| Sheridan GALLAGHER | Forward | Illawarra Stingrays / Football NSW |
| Abbey GREEN | Forward | Northern Tigers / Football West |
| Bryleeh HENRY | Forward | Blacktown Spartans / Football NSW |
| Sarah HUNTER | Midfielder | APIA Leichhardt / Football NSW |
| Sally JAMES | Goalkeeper | Blacktown Spartans / Capital Football |
| Kahli JOHNSON | Forward | Manly United / Football NSW |
| Hannah JONES | Midfielder | Sydney University FC / Football NSW |
| Caitlin KARIC | Forward | FV Emerging Matildas / Football Victoria |
| Aideen KEANE | Forward | Northern Tigers / Football NSW |
| Abbey LEMON | Forward | Blacktown Spartans / Football NSW |
| Chloe LINCOLN | Goalkeeper | Canberra United Academy / Capital Football |
| Hana LOWRY | Midfielder | Blacktown Spartans / Football West |
| Leticia MCKENNA | Midfielder | Blacktown Spartans / Football West |
| Alana MURPHY | Midfielder | Blacktown Spartans / Football Victoria |
| Emilia MURRAY | Forward | NTC Adelaide / Football SA |
| Jessika NASH | Defender | Blacktown Spartans / Football NSW |
| Anna NORTON | Goalkeeper | Blacktown Spartans / Football NSW |
| Leia PUXTY | Defender | Adamstown Rosebud FC / NNSW Football |
| Jamilla RANKIN | Defender | Blacktown Spartans / NNSW Football |
| Cushla RUE | Defender | Sydney University FC / Football NSW |
| Charlize RULE | Defender | Sydney Olympic / Football NSW |
| Sienna SAVESKA | Midfield | Football NSW Institute / Football NSW |
| Ella TONKIN | Defender | Northern Tigers / Football SA |
| Paige ZOIS | Midfielder | Bulleen Lions / Football Victoria |
