Kaitlyn Eastley’s dream of playing the sport she loves for her country is about to come true.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Hunter River High School student was recognised by the Australian Futsal Association for her outstanding performance at the 2017 National Club Futsal Championships.
From the championship the 14 year old was selected to join the Australian Futsal under-15 girls team to tour Brazil in August 2018.
Kaitlyn has been playing football for five years with the Tilligerry Football Club.
A friend from school convinced her to try out for the school futsal team.
“I wasn’t keen. She had to force me to join,” Kaitlyn said.
It was whilst representing Hunter River High that Kaitlyn was recognised by a representative scout and invited to attend the National Futsal Titles.
The titles were held in Sydney during the first week of the September-October school holidays.
Kaitlyn was placed in one of three under-15 teams.
The Tilligerry teenager offered to replace a teammate that had been selected to go up an age group and found herself in the unfamiliar position of goaltender.
Her performance as the goaltender was recognised by the international selection panel and she was chosen to join the national team.
The 2018 Brazilian tour will mainly be in the eastern city of Belo Horizonte.
It will be here that Kaitlyn will receive the highest quality futsal coaching available in Brazil with various sessions at the Recreativo-Makenzie Futsal Training Centre.
She will also have the chance to watch and feel the atmosphere that traditional Brazilian soccer games offer.
Kaitlyn said she is excited by the thought of travelling overseas.
“I have travelled to Fiji before, but never on such a big trip like this,” she said.
“It will be my first time flying a long distance without my family.”
To cap off the Brazilian experience, Kaitlyn’s team will end their tour with two nights in Rio De Janerio.
The team will rest up and recuperate by playing the tourist, which will include a visit to the one of the biggest stadiums in Brazil which was built for the 1950 World Cup, Christ on the Hill, Sugarloaf Mountain and the Ipanema and Copacabana beaches.