FIFA Women's World Cup 2023: Canberra ballkids part of Matildas opener against Ireland

Maya McRae, 14, Aisha El Ayadi, 12, Imogen Robertson, 11, and Natalia Cerne, 14, are four of 250 ballkids set to feature at the FIFA tournament in Australia and New Zealand starting this week.

Some of the quartet had been ball girls at Canberra United games before, but never for an event as big as a Women's World Cup, where 32 teams will compete for the prestigious trophy between July 20 and August 20.

"It's such a great opportunity for us," Maya said.

"We're going to be running up and down the sidelines, giving the ball to both teams when they need it and taking it all in."

Imogen added: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. One of my club teammates was so jealous and asked to get a ticket because she wanted to do this.

"It might be nerve-racking but it'll also be super exciting."

Last weekend the four completed their ball crew training day. They are now set for their match duties in one of the biggest games in Australian sports history, in front of a record crowd.

The girls are still on cloud nine after learning about their selection as ball kids from one of their Matildas heroes, Caitlin Foord.

In the lead-up to the Women's World Cup, Foord was at an Adidas shoot in Sydney and ran a clinic with players from Coerver Coaching ACT Performance Academy, who share the same sponsor.

The Arsenal star was a surprise guest and left the young girls speechless when she appeared at the session. Then when Foord revealed a closely held secret they would be ball kids for the Matildas' first game, tears were shed.

"It was really fun meeting someone who's accomplished so much and is one of our idols. She's an inspiration," Aisha said.

The girls all have their own aspirations to be Matildas some day, too, and with the Coerver Academy they're following the same path as high-profile graduates Foord, Ellie Carpenter, Emily Van Egmond, Lydia Williams and Hayley Raso.

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They have every chance to achieve their dreams with the same coach Cowra product Carpenter had when she was younger.

"I was Ellie's coach before the family moved to Sydney and I maintain regular contact with her even today," Coerver Academy technical director Adrian Haynes said.

"I told Ellie there would be some Canberra Coerver kids at the game and she said she will keep an eye out for them."

With Canberra missing out on hosting games or team training bases for this momentous World Cup, Haynes said he was proud to be able to provide the opportunity for ACT girls in their program to get involved.

"This is a nice link for Canberra because we haven't got a huge amount of contact with the Women's World Cup, which a lot of people are disappointed about," Haynes said.

"It was quite funny, they were telling Caitlin Foord that if she scores a goal in the game she will have to high-five the girls, and she agreed to do that. So they'll be expecting that, but they'll also be very focused on their important job and represent us beautifully."

Haynes hoped the inclusion of Canberra youngsters as ball kids would shine a light on the pipeline of talent in the capital, and inspire more to take up the world game.

"It'll have a huge push in helping young girls come into the sport and want to emulate their heroes," he said.

"We can't underestimate the importance of this tournament and Canberra needs to jump on that train and ride that wave of popularity."

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