CommBank Junior Matildas return to Canberra for second preparation camp

February will see the CommBank Junior Matildas return to Canberra and the Australian Institute of Sport for their second preparation camp for the 2024 AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup™ in May.

Head Coach Rae Dower has called up an extensive 30-player squad for the training camp with a significant number of players from the A-League Women’s competition returning to the national team environment.

They join the standout performers from last month’s January camp as Head Coach Rae Dower continues to build towards a final 23-player squad to represent Australia at the Asian Cup.

“The staff and I are excited to get back into camp again so soon as we look to start narrowing our focus towards the Asian Cup,” said Dower.

“We’ve cast the net wide to give as many players as possible the opportunity to come into the CommBank Junior Matildas camp and put their hand up for selection. We’ve never had this level of depth in the playing cohort and huge kudos to the Member Federation programs and the clubs for helping these players to realise their potential and their footballing dreams. 

“With such an array of talent across the country, it’s been a difficult decision in finalising the squad. On top of that a couple of niggling injuries and school commitments has resulted in some players being out of contention for this camp.”

Twelve clubs and five state institute programs are represented on the squad hailing from eight different Member Federations.

While Dower and the team are still awaiting news of their group-stage opponents for the AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup, the sharp focus is on how the team can continue strengthening ahead of May’s continental championships.

“The last two camps we left our A-League Women’s players in their respective club environments where they’ve been training and playing well.  I’m looking forward to them coming back into camp with a spring in their step and leading the way,” Dower continued.

“With the Asian Cup Draw yet to be completed, we need to remain adaptable and flexible with our playing style. These next two camps are important for the group to work together to practice how we might tweak our shape depending on our opponents.

“We’ve been drip-feeding this information throughout the last 18 months to help develop their football knowledge and now it’s time to be more intentional about how we embed that into the group. I’m really pleased at how they’ve been able to utilise it in matches in our qualifying rounds and the learning moments have been plentiful for their football development,” she concluded.

The CommBank Junior Matildas will assemble from Monday 12 February to Friday 16 February 2024.

COMMBANK JUNIOR MATILDAS | TRAINING CAMP SQUAD | FEBRUARY 2024