IT’S the ultimate reward for any sportsperson - the chance to represent your country.
Cootamundra’s Jenna Collingridge will do just that when she steps out for the Australian Schoolgirls soccer side next year for a series of matches in China and Japan.
Jenna, the daughter of Paul and Kathy Collingridge, earned her national stripes following an impressive performance for NSW at last week’s 2010 National Girls Football Championships held in the Melbourne suburb of Thornbury.
The NSW side dominated the
tournament, winning all six matches on their way to the national title.
Highlighting the superiority of the NSW team was the fact over the course of the championships they scored 38 goals and failed to concede any.
Among their victories were a 14-0
demolition of Northern Territory and a 3-0 win over arch-rivals and their main danger for the title, Queensland.
It was no surprise then to see NSW
players dominate the Australian squad, with eight of Jenna’s teammates also
gaining their ticket to Asia.
Sixteen-year-old Jenna has showed a natural talent for soccer from a young age and has been a regular in South West, Riverina, NSW Country and NSW teams over the years.
She almost invariably gives away height and weight to her opponents, however her determination at the ball more than makes up for any physical shortfalls.
Quietly spoken and extremely modest, Jenna said she felt both privileged and
honoured to be chosen in the national side.
“I didn’t know what to expect in Melbourne, but was aware that NSW has dominated the Nationals over the past few years and as a result always seemed to get their share of players in the Australian side,” Jenna said.
“I certainly didn’t go there expecting to be chosen, but as the week went on and we kept winning you start to think you might be an outside chance.”
Jenna played a key role in the midfield, setting up a number of NSW goals with pin-point passes and found the back of the net herself against Queensland.
Jenna was one of just two country-based players in the NSW side, the other being Grenfell’s Sammie Wood, but proving the country kids are equally as talented as their Sydney counterparts, both Jenna and Sammie made the national team.
The Australian side will conduct a
number of training camps between now and their departure date of January 17, the two-week tour sure to be the highlight of Jenna’s career to date.
While loathe to look too far into the future, Jenna’s selection in the Australian Schoolgirls team is another stepping stone towards further national honours such as the Junior Matildas under 17s or under 19s.
The ultimate goal, and one that is by no means out of reach for Coota’s pocket rocket, would be selection in the senior Matildas team.
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