Female Football stars Michelle Heyman, Nicki Flannery, Sasha Grove and Emma Ilijoski, who all played for Canberra United in the 2023/24 Liberty A-League season, have inspired a new generation of Tigers FC players, meeting members of the first-ever Tigers FC girls team to celebrate Female Football Week.
The Tigers FC U14s Girls team joined Michelle, Nicki, Sasha and Emma for photos before the women’s training session at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
The women are currently training with the Tigers FC National Premier League (NPL) Men’s First Grade team under the coaching leadership of Tigers FC Director of Coaching, Ali Rıza Efe. In 2021, Ali was a Canberra United Assistant Coach, so has a strong working relationship with the Canberra United players.
Up until now, Tigers FC has only fielded teams for men and boys, but the 2024 season sees the launch of a new Tigers FC U14s Girls team in Capital Football’s Junior League Girls Division 1 competition for the very first time.
Tigers FC parents and volunteers were motivated to launch the team after the whole club was inspired by the success of the Matildas at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Matilda and 2023/24 Canberra United captain, Michelle Heyman, was thrilled to take part in such a historic Female Football Week activity with the Tigers FC girls.
“We’re really excited that Tigers FC have got their first girls’ team off the ground,” she said. “It was so lovely to meet them all and we’d love to see the girls on the field as future Canberra United and Matildas players in years to come.”
Tigers FC Director of Coaching, Ali Rıza Efe, agreed that it was a very special day for the club.
“We’re so thankful to Michelle, Nicki, Sasha and Emma for inspiring our players – both girls and boys,” Efe commented. “This is the first of hopefully many more girls teams for Tigers FC – across a range of age groups – and we’d love any girls interested in joining Tigers FC to reach out to us for the 2025 season.”
The Tigers FC girls have also been inspired by another Canberra United legend – former player and goalkeeping coach, Chantel Jones. Chantel is goalkeeping coach for Tigers FC and trains club goalkeepers across all age groups – from NPL and NPLB to Junior League.
Working with the Tigers FC female goalkeepers since the start of the season has been a memorable experience for Chantel.
“It’s been brilliant coaching our junior girl and boy keepers this season so far. I also loved having a kick around with the girls team at our season launch fun day. It’s a hugely exciting time for the future of the club.”
Tigers FC is a club on the rise. Last year saw the Tigers top the Capital Premier League (CPL) Boys Championship ladder, with U14s, U15s, U16s and U18s teams promoted to the NPL for the 2024 season, joining the U23s and Men’s First Grade teams.
Tigers FC will be holding player trials for both boys and girls for the 2025 season in October 2024. For the latest information on trial dates, follow Tigers FC on Facebook and Instagram.
