Kahlia Hogg is currently the only additional member to Canberra United’s playing squad for the second season of the Westfield W-League with all the local players from last season retained for another year.
Eleven Canberra players have already committed for this Westfield W-League season including Captain Ellie Brush and key players Grace Gill and Lydia Williams to significantly boost the campaign.
“Those key players were obviously a part of the successful team last year so it-s great to have them sign for another year,” Canberra United head coach Ray Junna said.
“We-ve got a much younger squad this year compared to last year without the older interstate players available.”
“It-s definitely a great start to our squad.”
Dubbo twins, Ashley and Nicole Sykes will also be returning to the green of Canberra United this summer with further international caps to their names following selections for the Young Matildas- AFC U-19 Women-s Championship.
Along with the Sykes, Jennifer Bisset, Cian Maciejewski, Christine Walters have all re-signed while Ellie Raymond has been promoted from emergency player to Canberra United squad member for this season.
“In the future, the FFA aren-t going to supplement players coming in from interstate starting next season so we need to be prepared for that,” Junna said.
“It-s a testament to the local talent that there is a capable younger brigade already coming through.”
“In the next couple of years, Canberra United certainly won-t have any issues with fielding a very competitive side in the Westfield W-League with the talent of the younger players.”
With those two out of action, Canberra United still have nine vacancies to fill in its squad including the only two available spots for interstate players which are yet to be filled.
“I-m very happy with the squad that we-ve assembled so far, hopefully we can still encourage a couple of international players to come over or high profile interstate players to come in.”
Confirmed Canberra United signings:
Ellie Brush
Lydia Williams
Grace Gill
Cian Maciejewski
Bronwyn Studman
Ashley Sykes
Nicole Sykes
Christine Walters
Ellie Raymond
Kahlia Hogg
Jennifer Bisset
Canberra United kicks off its second Westfield W-League campaign on Saturday, 3rd October 2009 against the Brisbane Roar at Ballymore Stadium in a grand final rematch to be broadcast live on ABC1 at 3:00pm.
