The Australian Institute of Sport’s (AIS) reputation for developing high-quality international footballers has been reinforced with Football Federation Australia’s announcement of the 21-player Australian Matilda’s squad for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which starts in Germany from 26 June to 17 July 2011.

Thirteen AIS scholarship holders have been named in the Matilda’s squad for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The Matilda’s squad includes 13 players who will make their debut at the World Cup with an average age of just under 22 years old.

Seven players under the age of 20 have been selected in the squad including Westfield W-League Player of the Year Kyah Simon, Tameka Butt, 16-year-old Caitlin Foord and 17-year-olds:  AIS athletes Emily van Egmond Sam Kerr and Teigen Allen (NSWIS).

Star striker and AIS athlete Lisa De Vanna has been selected in the squad after participating at the recent Gold Coast training camp and will join her Matilda teammates in Sydney on 14 June.

Head coach of the Australian Matildas and the AIS Women’s Football program said the selection process for the Matildas squad was very ‘competitive.’ 

‘This has been one of the toughest selection processes I have ever had to go through and there were a lot of variables the coaching staff had to weigh up before selecting this final 21 player list,’ Sermanni said.

’The camps have been incredibly competitive and players have emerged during this process that were not even on my list when we won the AFC Women’s Asian Cup last year.

’Overall I am very happy with the composition of the squad but it is incredibly difficult to have to leave certain players out.

’The team has changed dramatically in the past 18 months and as I said before the Asian Cup we will definitely go into this tournament with cautious optimism.’

The Matilda’s squad for the World Cup is: Laura Alleway, Melissa Barbieri, Tameka Butt, Kim Carroll, Lauren Colthorpe, Lisa De Vanna, Casey Dumont, Elise Kellond-Knight, Samantha Kerr, Collette McCallum, Clare Polkinghorne, Sally Shipard and Emily van Egmond.* They will join New South Wales Institute of Sport athletes Caitlin Foord, Heather Garriock, Leeena Khamis, Ellyse Perry, Kyah Simon Emily Van Egmond and ACT Academy of Sport athlete Lydia Williams.

The Matildas will play Brazil (29 June), Equatorial Guinea (3 July) and Norway (7 July) in Group D matches.    

The Westfield Matildas leave for Germany on 14 June to play in two training matches against Mexico (20 June 20 in Gottingen) and England (23 June in Wolfsburg).

*AIS scholarship holders