Sydney FC coach Alen Stajcic is looking forward to working with dual international Ellyse Perry at the Westfield W-League club.
Sydney FC coach Alen Stajcic is looking forward to working with dual international Ellyse Perry at the Westfield W-League club.
Perry returned from Sri Lanka this week, where she helped Australia to victory in the World Twenty20 cricket final against England.
She will have to juggle her time between Sydney FC and her cricket team, NSW Breakers, but Stajcic is happy to accommodate Perry’s busy schedule.
“There might be one or two games that she’ll miss,” Stajcic said.
“But apart from that she’ll be available for all the games and most of the training sessions.”
Perry left her former W-League club Canberra after being told to choose between football and cricket.
But Sydney FC have allowed her to continue to play both sports, with Stajcic speaking highly of Perry’s contribution.
“She’s a really committed person and hats off to her level of commitment,” he said.
“To have that level of enthusiasm from a player is really great.”
Matildas star Kyah Simon, 21, will captain a very young Sydney side this season, with 12 teenagers in the squad of 20.
But Stajcic insists that while some of his players might be young in age, they are not short of experience.
“We’re just looking for a bright and energetic future,” Stajcic said.
“That’s the way of the modern world in women’s football – that they’re getting younger and younger and some of the players that are developing so quickly.”
