The Mariners Academy sides will again take to the pitch this weekend, with a host of action taking place at Pluim Park on Sunday afternoon, and ccmariners.com.au caught up with attacker Danielle Wise for this Academy preview thanks to Steadfast.
Wise and her teammates got their campaign off to the perfect last weekend with a 6-1 win against SD Raiders with Wise bagging two of her own, and after 29 goals last season Wise said it was nice to be on the board early.
“We’ve been training hard in the pre-season and it’s definitely paid off in that first round, on the weekend we did very well,” she said.
“It [scoring] is a reassuring thing to remind myself that I still am in form, and I can still produce and finish as a striker but obviously having the support around me of the girls, getting those good balls through definitely helps me, I couldn’t do it by myself.”
Wise is now in her second year with the Mariners under Head Coach Dan Barrett, who was recognised for his contribution to Women’s Football with the Male Champion award during rebel Female Football Week.
Congratulations to our very own Dan Barrett, who was recognised as Male Champion of the Year at the rebel Female Football Week awards this morning! pic.twitter.com/PuHe2k2l1l
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) March 13, 2020
The Mariners Women will close the week when they play at Pluim on Sunday, and Wise highlighted the importance of recognising the contribution of women to Football and helping the sport to continue its growth.
“I think women’s football is definitely growing, she said.
“It’s so good to see the growth happening in our ranks, we’ve got a great younger generation coming through so it’s important we continue to support that development and help it to grow.”
“As it continues, it would definitely be nice to see the Mariners [be able to] step into the W-League, we have the type of girls that would go well in that space, and I think we have a very good younger generation coming through the Mariners that will also suit the W-League. “
Mariners A-League Head Coach Alen Stajcic had similar thoughts during the week about the growth of Women’s football and the importance of supporting that to continue.
“To see the numbers that came out this week, in terms of the participation rates in football in Australia, the biggest jump has again been in the female space,” he said.
“What I’ve been saying for a long time is that this was a market that was untapped by Australian football, and not really cared about enough, and to see that we’ve shown a little bit of care towards that part of the game and the amount of growth that we’ve seen from Matildas down to grassroots was really pleasing to see.”
Wise and her team will kick-off at 2:45pm on Sunday afternoon at Pluim Park, looking to make it two from two to begin the campaign.
Fixtures
1st Grade: Central Coast Mariners v Western NSW FC | Sunday @ Pluim Park – 2:45pm
Reserves: Bye
U/17’s: Central Coast Mariners v Western NSW FC | Sunday @ Pluim Park – 12:55pm
U/15’s: Central Coast Mariners v Western NSW FC | Sunday @ Pluim Park – 11:25am
U/14’s: Central Coast Mariners v Western NSW FC | Sunday @ Pluim Park – 10:00am
NPL2 Men’s |
Nick Montgomery’s first grade side will host Hakoah Sydney City at Pluim Park on Sunday also, aiming to go one better than their draw last weekend.
Louis Khoury bagged a brace on debut for the club and the Mariners arguably could have won the outing with chances a plenty, but were forced to settle for a point instead.
First grade will kick off at 5:00pm on Sunday evening, with 18’s and 20’s directly before.
Fixtures |
1st Grade: Central Coast Mariners v Hakoah Sydney City | Sunday @ Pluim Park – 5:00pm
U/20’s: Central Coast Mariners v Hakoah Sydney City | Sunday @ Pluim Park – 3:00pm
U/18’s: Central Coast Mariners v Hakoah Sydney City | Sunday @ Pluim Park – 1:00pm
