Queensland’s Brisbane Roar/QAS team left for Canberra today ahead of next week’s Football Federation Australia (FFA) Girls National Training Centre (NTC) Challenge.

Held from Monday, 22 July to Friday, 26 July at the Australian Institute of Sports (AIS), the NTC Challenge offers Under 17 girls the opportunity to showcase their talent in front of FFA officials and Australian national team selectors.

While it is a competitive tournament in spirit, the main focus of the challenge is to give players the opportunity to showcase and develop their skills in a realistic match environment.

All Member Federations’ representative teams will play three games across two days on Monday and Tuesday, while on Wednesday’s recovery day Technical Directors, coaches and officials will attend a number of presentations and workshops.

Thursday will see a play-off round between the two groups and on the final day of the NTC Challenge, players will compete in mixed teams based on the Technical Study Group evaluations.

David Da Silva and Briac Williams will lead the Queensland team as Head and Assistant Coach.

Head Coach Da Silva said he was looking forward to showcasing the talent of Queensland’s young players at the tournament, with the aim of helping them progress on the pathway to national team selection.

“The NTC Challenge offers an opportunity to identify talented players from across Australia for the Young and Junior Matildas squads, as well as providing an appropriate challenge and elite tournament for the next generation of Matildas and W-League players and officials,” Da Silva said.

“We are hoping to showcase the talent from around Queensland as our team compete against their peers from across Australia, with the aim of getting as many of our girls considered for selection in Young and Junior Matildas camps, and to compete in late 2019 World Cup qualifiers.”

Queensland will kick off their NTC Challenge campaign tomorrow morning against Newcastle Jets.

Queensland NTC Challenge Fixtures:

Day 1 – Monday, 22 July
9:00am: Queensland vs Newcastle Jets
3:00pm: Victoria vs Queensland

Day 2 – Tuesday, 23 July
2:30pm: Queensland vs Tasmania

Day 3 – Wednesday, 24 July
Rest Day

Day 4 – Thursday, 25 July
Play-off Round

Day 5 – Friday, 26 July
Mixed Teams Round and Presentations

Image: Chris Simpson