Brooke Gayler’s goal-scoring pedigree could’ve been lost to Canberra were it not for the formation of Wagga City Wanderers women’s squad earlier this year.
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Having dominated Wagga’s various school and club competitions since her early teens, the promising young striker had begun canvassing her options in Capital Football’s NPL competition and was looking to link with Canberra FC next season.
Fate, however, had other plans and when director of women’s football Gary Lyons announced the club’s bid to enter Capital Football had been successful, Gayler set her sights on a new home.
“I’d been planning on playing somewhere in Canberra and was going to drive up and back for training and games and all that,” Gayler said.
“I’d looked at Canberra FC but then Wagga got into the NPL and we’re in the comp anyway, so it all came at a really good time for me.”
The teenager has been among the Leonard Cup’s best since 2016 and was key to Henwood Park’s surge into this year’s grand final, where they went down to reigning champions Tolland in a 2-1 thriller.
Now, she’s hoping to headline the Wanderers’ attack against Canberra FC and all comers in Wagga’s black and white strip.
“The Leonard Cup’s alright but I think the skill level will be a step up in the NPL and that’s exciting,” she said.
“Everyone on the park will be at that top level.”
It’s still early days in the women’s camp but initial training runs and a focus on match situations has left the Hawks star with plenty to smile about.
“Things have been going really good actually, I mean we’ve only had a couple of sessions but they’ve been great and there’s been a lot of game-focused stuff as well,” Gayler said
“It’s looking like it’s going to be a really strong team as well and we’ve had heaps of girls coming over from Albury which we weren’t really expecting, but they’ve been good quality too.”
Though she’s only just graduated from Mater Dei Catholic College – the school with whom she won a Shipard Shield title earlier this year – Gayler is determined to make her mark in the Wanderers’ starting line up.
“I’d love to be playing striker,” she said.
The desire to play Wanderers could come at a cost though and Gayler admitted that if her Henwood Park duties clashed the NPL schedule, she’d be choosing her new representative team.
“I think there might be clashes and if there are, I’d be playing Wanderers,” she said.
“It’s just going to be a better standard and that’s what I want to be doing – playing at the top level.”
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