It’s been a big year for rising football star Darcey Malone, and it has just got a little bigger.
She has just been named in the junior Matildas squad which will represent Australia at the 2019 Asian Under-16 women’s championship in Thailand.
There will be a lot at stake at the championships because they are a qualifying tournament for next year’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in India.
Fifteen year old Darcey Malone was named in the junior Matildas qualifying squad earlier this year and has been working hard on securing her place in the championship team.
“This is an incredible honour,” said Ms Malone, who also won the Wests Group Macarthur Sports Council elite sports person of the year award for 2019.
“It’s wonderful to see a young local from the Macarthur Region have the opportunity to represent our country,” says Tony Mathew, CEO of Wests Group Macarthur.
“Providing grassroots level support to clubs that help encourage the passions of young sports people like Darcey is something that we are really proud to be a part of,” Mr Mathew said.
“We congratulate Darcey on her tremendous achievement and wish her all the best in her upcoming matches.”
Darcey Malone started her soccer career at Mount Annan, before moving to the region’s representative team, the Macarthur Rams.
Last year, she represented NSW as the youngest soccer player in the Under-17s and is now a member of the Football NSW Institute.
Darcey Malone and the rest of the junior Matildas will travel to Thailand next Tuesday, September 10 before playing their group games on September 15, 18, and 21 against Japan, Thailand, and Bangladesh respectively.
The semi-finals will be held on September 25 and the final on Saturday, September 28.
The teams that make the final will also qualify as Asia’s representatives for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
