A quartet of Mandurah City's junior soccer stars will be donning Western Australian kits when they represent the state at several national competitions over the coming months.
Lucy O'Halloran (12), Gian Zupanov (12), Sam Byrne (14) and Baden Gray (16) will all be looking to do their local Dolphins proud when they compete for WA.
Both Lucy and Gian will look to hit the ground running when they don the black and gold at the 2019 School Sport Australia National Championships in Canberra this month.
The pair have will both compete in the under 12s division at the carnival, which will see them take on neighbouring states across five days of play.
Sam will be part of Football West's campaign as WA searches for a win at the under 14s National Youth Championships in Coffs Harbour this October, while Baden represents the state in both futsal and soccer over the coming months.
Mandurah City Football Club president Nigel Mann was ecstatic for the four youngsters.
"It's great for them as young footballers to get this chance," he said.
"Playing at a higher level should really help them develop their game and hopefully they can reach even further heights in the future."
Mann said their selections highlighted the success of the Mandurah club's junior pathways.
"Recently we've really placed a high emphasis on our development programs and making sure they're filled with the highest quality," he said.
"We've got a real focus on putting in good quality coaches and making sure our young players get exactly what they need to become the best footballers they can be.
"We're starting to see the results of that now, particularly with the four of these guys going off to play for the state, so it's really promising."
For more information on Mandurah City FC, visit the club's Facebook page.
Justin Rake
Sports journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, Fairfax Media.
Sports journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, Fairfax Media.
