WA’s future Matildas train for on and off the field performances

As part of its preparation for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Football West is training WA’s future Matildas’ stars to excel not only on the field but also off the field, in front of cameras and microphones.

Six young women from the Hyundai National Training Centre (NTC) program, the Elite Development Pathway for girls in Western Australia, have been enrolled in a specialist on-line media training program with Expert Registry, a WA media training start-up.

The CEO of Football West James Curtis said dealing with media in pre- and post-match interviews was identified as one area these young sportswomen were apprehensive about, “With the 2023 FIFA World Cup being held in Australia and New Zealand, local expectations will be incredibly high. That pressure, coupled with a global focus, meant we needed to ensure players are media trained and comfortable with any potential interviews”, he said.

Football West was looking for a program that covered both the theoretical and practical elements of media training, and it was also important the program be online so it could be completed in the players’ own time, as most of the young women were still at school.

Expert Registry is a West Australian media training company headed by Lanna Hill. It was launched late in 2020 to cater to people looking to complete online media training – COVID-safely – and in their own time. Other industries and sectors that are putting their hands up for this kind of media training are coming from law, health, finance, leisure, property and other sporting codes.

In the past three years eight players who have come through the NTC have represented the Junior Matildas (Australia U16s) or Young Matildas (Australia U19). The five young women chosen for the training are: Cameron Barreiro, Georgia Cassidy, Judy Connolly, Ella Lincoln and Grace Johnston.