Sasha Grove says the key lessons that she has learned playing with the Illawarra Stingrays has put her in good stead for the upcoming A-League Women's season with Canberra United.
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In October, the teenager will swap pink for lime green when she returns to the nation's capital for her third A-Leagues campaign after re-signing with United on Thursday.
The contract continues a big 2023 for the 19-year-old who earned another call-up to the Young Matildas squad in May. That same month, Grove made her first start for the Stingrays against NWS Spirit in the NPL NSW Women's competition.
Since, Grove has become a regular in the Illawarra first grade or reserves teams as she continues to develop her craft under the guidance of head coach Steve Gordon.
"It's been absolutely fantastic," Grove told the Mercury.
"I was really nervous going to my first training session because I hadn't met the team before, but fortunately there's a lot of Canberra locals who play with the Stingrays. Tara Cannon, Mia McGovern and Daisy (Canavan), and I knew Chloe Middleton from playing with Canberra last season.
"But the girls are absolutely lovely and I've learned so much from them, especially (Michelle) Carney - she's incredible. It's a lovely community and I'm really grateful that Steve has let me play with the Stingrays this season.
"I've learned so much here. With Canberra, I've been playing fullback, whereas with the Stingrays, I've played up front. So I've been working on actually scoring goals, which has been helpful for me."
The NPL season is set to wrap up next month before attention turns to the 2023/24 A-League Women's campaign.
Grove is looking to take another step forward following an impressive last season with Canberra, where she played 16 matches and helped the drive the side up to fifth position.
"Canberra is such a lovely community. It's all about the people that we see in our every day lives coming to our games and the culture we have is fantastic. You feel so safe and supported," she said.
"There's a lot of faith that the coaching staff put into all of the players they sign. We obviously have a lot of big names - 'Shelly' (Michelle Heyman) and 'Nikki' (Nickoletta Flannery) are fantastic - but there's also so many young players that do so much on the pitch.
"The way that the team operates and the trust we have in each other is fantastic."
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Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
