Perth Glory defender Natalie Tathem has revealed her ambition to represent Australia at the inaugural Futsal Women’s World Cup in 2025.
Tathem was one of 24 players invited to attend an Australia Women’s National Futsal Team domestic selection camp in Sydney scheduled for mid-December.
The camp will act as a springboard to the 2025 AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup qualifiers in January next year, and the tournament itself in May – then, attention will turn to the very first Women’s Futsal World Cup in the Philippines in November-December.
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Tathem, an experienced Ninja A-League campaigner, is one of eight players selected for the camp with experience playing football in the Australian top flight, along with Trudy Camilleri, Jessica Dillon, Emily Dunn, Sarah Easthope, Alexia Karrys-Stahl, Demi Koulizakis and Marianna Tabain.
The Glory defender says futsal came before football in her childhood, and selection in the December camp comes as an immense point of pride.
“I started playing futsal before I played football,” Tathem said.
“I didn’t start football until I was 12, so I was a bit of a late starter. Futsal has always been something that I’ve done throughout my whole entire career. It’s something I just really enjoy, I think it makes me a better footballer, because it’s smaller (pitch), quicker decisions, more pressure and less time on the ball.
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“I think that really translates for me into football; it’s been my building block, it’s the reason I played football. That’s how I met people who played football.
“I think for me, I used to play in the F-League which is similar to the A-League back in the day but it was futsal. We would fly around the same as we do in the A-League to play against other cities. Unfortunately, that was stopped (in 2017), the funding got cut for it.
“So to see that now we’ve got an Australian women’s team going to a World Cup next year, it’s super exciting… I’m just excited to go out there, represent my country and hopefully do the country proud.”
Before Tathem switches her attention to futsal and the December selection camp, the defender is preparing for Glory’s second consecutive home game in the Ninja A-League this weekend.
Tathem and Glory take on Adelaide United at the Sam Kerr Football Centre on Sunday, December 15. Click here to get your tickets!
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