On Wednesday, July 27, Football Victoria (FV) hosted North Carolina FC at Darebin International Sports Centre for two friendly matches against FV's NTC sides.
North Carolina FC is regarded as one of the top 10 youth footballing programs in America and is home to more than 16,000 players.
FV Girls Talent Development Manager said it was a “great initiative” between the clubs and the players thoroughly enjoyed the football contest.
“It was great to test our young NTC players against an international opponent,” she said.
“At the end of the game, we saw the teams come together and new friendships were formed.
“We wish North Carolina FC Youth a safe travel home and thank them for the games.”
FV’s NTC program took on North Carolina in a U13-14 match followed by a U15-17 contest with Victoria’s best young talents able to test themselves against quality international talent.
North Carolina FC Elite/Premier Girls Director Pete Sadin explained their time in Australia had been an “unbelievable experience” for the players and staff.”
“We had a touring party of around 60 people, and we came in from the States and watched three Women’s World Cup games,” he explained.
“We were able to see Australia’s opening match, which was pretty cool. We have been doing a lot of excursions and sightseeing during our time in Sydney and Melbourne and playing two friendlies while we were here.”
“We are in our break right now, we haven’t started our season yet so it was a great opportunity to come across the pond.”
Sadin was impressed with the quality of Victoria’s young female talent following two tough friendly matches.
“The hit-out has been excellent,” he said.
“The younger team was quality, really good on the ball, spacing, and movements, it took us a little bit of time to get used to the speed of play.
“They pretty much finished every chance they took as well.
“The facilities are fantastic, the staff were unbelievably nice and courteous. It was a great experience for the kids to play against players at this level.
“The result of these matches were irrelevant, what was more important was that the girls were interacting with the other players in the post-game and having fun.”