Cup tilt in Sweden for Baldivis teenager

Baldivis teenager Tiahna Atkins is set to make history next month when she takes to the field as part of the first WA female-only junior soccer squad to compete in Sweden’s Gothia Cup.

The 14-year-old, from the Northern Redbacks women’s soccer club, based in Balga, is the youngest in the under-16 squad set to take on the world’s biggest youth tournament.

About 1700 teams from 78 nations will go head-to-head from July 14 to 20 vying for the Gothia Cup.

Playing in women’s State League and based at Football West’s national training centre, Tiahna has also represented WA at the National Youth Championships but said it would be her first time on the world stage. “I’m looking forward to meeting new people from all different cultures,” she said. “It will be a challenge versing teams that we don’t know how they play but I would love to win a game in front of a stadium crowd.”

Picking up sponsorship from the Swedish Women’s Educational Association, the team will spend six nights housed at a school in Gothenburg.