Eamon Sutherland, Lukas Walker, Joshua Ismay and Noah Carr.
Representing Cootamundra and Wagga in Canberra from 13 to 17 July, seven Cootamundra Strikers players were selected to attend the Kanga Cup in Canberra.
Formerly held in Sydney, the Kanga Cup was established in 1991 as a five-day international youth football tournament.
The Cup transitioned to Canberra in 1993, and has been held there ever since.
Taking on players from U9s to U16s in both open and female competitions, the Cup sees teams participating from a wide range of clubs, academies, schools and associations.
For Eamon Sutherland, Lucas Walker, Joshua Ismay, Noah Carr, Emerson Jones, Mikayla Pasons and Sarah Lake, the opportunity meant representing not only their home town and team (the Cootamundra Strikers) but also being selected as part of the Football Wagga academy teams.
The annual event hosts more than 100 teams from across Australia, with some international teams who travel to compete. The event, held during the school holidays, fuels a major part of Canberra’s annual tourism industry.
Being selected to compete in the Kanga Cup is a huge process, and our Coota representatives were required to trial out of the Wagga Academy in 2025 for three weeks, where successful applicants are selected on skill, ability and merit.
Now back home following a hardcore week of playing (with a Strikers match against Henwood Park capping off their busy schedule), all seven players have truly done something incredible.
Aaron Walker (who plays for the Men’s Blue team) and is father to Lucas, says the players have been surrounded by a giant support network of friends and family throughout the whole journey.
“We all run a bit of a carpool,” he says.
“They all train in Wagga once a week on top of their club training sessions.”
Apparently, there is no such thing as too much soccer for the seven strikers who travel between weekend games, representative carnivals and events such as the Kanga Cup, proving there truly is no rest for the wicked.
Although they went down 1-4 after returning home to play against Henwood Park, Aaron says they weren’t slowed down despite their huge week.
“They were fatigued, and their bodies were under maybe a few niggling injuries, but it was all good because they love it,” he says.
“They live and breathe it.”
The Kanga Cup is thought to attract more than 1800 players (with more parents and supporters on the sidelines). Despite this size, Aaron says it was an incredibly well-organised event, even comparing it to the World Cup: something that has heavily inspired the young players.
Although the World Cup and Kanga Cup have both come to an end, there is still more than a month left of competitive playing on the cards for the youngsters.
Emerson’s U14s Girls Team fought hard on the field to keep their ground before conceding, but both the U15 Boys (Lucas, Eamon, Noah and Josh) and the U16 Girls (Mikayla and Sarah) made it to the semi-finals, with Mikayla and Sarah taking home a 4-0 win as the undefeated champions.
Regardless of where they ended up, Aaron says it was an amazing effort to even see Cootamundra on the map at such an extensive event.
“To have seven kids from Cootamundra – a relatively small town – competing at that Wagga Academy level is amazing,” he says.
“Really, that’s half a team all from Coota.”
Wagga is home to almost 70,000 people, and less than 12,000 people call Cootamundra home. To see such large numbers representing the town is an achievement the players should be proud to remember.
“It’s a testament to the training that these kids have had from a young age, from junior soccer and into the senior ranks of the Strikers,” says Aaron.
Now back on home soil and representing their town in blue and white, Aaron says the U16s Strikers have got what it takes to get them to the finals.
“They’ve just got to keep their heads on and play their style of football,” he says.
“If they all work well together, they should be very successful.”
Returning from finals last year and getting beat out, Aaron says the team has their eyes on the prize.
“After being undefeated all year, for their first year, their nerves got torn, but hopefully this year they can pull it together,” he says.
Elizabeth Kovacs
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