NORTH Coast Football’s Alice Webster impressed at Northern NSW Football trials last month and received an offer to join the Newcastle Jets Youth Academy from Kew Jaliens, the Newcastle Jets and Northern NSW Football Youth Technical Director.

Jaliens was a former Dutch international who played in the FIFA 2006 World Cup where the central defender helped Holland hold Lionel Messi’s Argentina scoreless to a 0-0 draw in the group stages.

Jaliens played in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football for fourteen years before signing for the Newcastle Jets and ending his professional career in Australia.

Webster is a classy wingback with crisp passing and solid tackling and it was Dutch international Kew Jaliens who spotted Webster at Northern NSW trials.

“I was first noticed by Kew Jaliens, the Northern NSW and Newcastle Jets Youth Technical Director, at trials for the Northern NSW under 16s girls team which were to compete at Nationals in Canberra.

“I was invited to do some training sessions with the Jets Academy but this was cancelled due to Covid and subsequent lockdowns.

“These sessions were rescheduled and I recently attended two in November, a few days later, Kew sent an email with an offer of a place in the Jets Academy,” said Webster.

Now Webster has an offer on the table she is working through the practical details.

“I am hoping to do it full time but this is dependent on finding a suitable family to board with.

“If I move down I will attend Hunter Sports High School.

“If I can’t find a family to board with, the second option is to join the academy on a part-time basis.

“Their preseason will start late January, 2022, I am really thrilled and excited to see where this opportunity may lead me,” said Webster.

Alex Nolan, the NCF Head of Coaching and Development said, “It’s a great opportunity for Alice to have an offer to join the Newcastle Jets Academy.

“The A-League Women’s is starting to see more girls as young as 16 getting a chance to play at the top level, women’s football is growing rapidly and we are delighted to see Alice thriving, she has a fantastic attitude and is ambitious which will go a long way.

“North Coast Football has been building on our relationship with the Jets and Alice will be one of many we hope to see in their academy over the next few years,” said Alex.

 

By David WIGLEY