Girls reach their goal

THREE Berwick girls will lead Victoria into battle at the School Sport Australia 12-and-under soccer championships in Adelaide next month.
Rachel Binning, Jaylan Martin and Jaye Todd all made it through the exhaustive try-out process to secure their spots in the 14-player squad.
The trio are teammates in the Berwick City Soccer Club’s formidable under-12 girls side, which, not surprisingly, sits atop the ladder in Football Federation Victoria’s Metro 12A competition.
Berwick City coach Andrew Pearce has watched Rachel and Jaylan emerge through the club’s junior ranks, and his side was further bolstered when Jaye’s family moved to Australia from the UK last year.
Jaye is a gifted goalkeeper, Rachel a central midfielder and Jaylan a striker/forward, so City is blessed with quality all over the park.
And Pearce says the star trio have provided great leadership within his young group.
“They’ve all got a great temperament,” he said.
“They know that we expect a lot from them and they perform each week for us, so it’s great to see them all make the state team.”
Jaylan and Rachel where among hundreds of budding soccer stars who turned out for the initial try-out session, while Jaye was encouraged to join in midway through the process after her skills caught the eye of some parents on one of the opposing teams.
Jaylan, Rachel and Jaye attend St Margaret’s School (Berwick), Berwick Secondary College and Rowville Sports Academy respectively.
The girls will return from Adelaide on 5 August, just in time to suit up for Berwick City in the last game of the regular season.