Young crop at the Illawarra Stingrays ready to put their name in lights

Coach Steve Gordon has his side in the midst of pre-season, gearing up for their opening fixture of the season against Macarthur at Macedonia Park on March 3.

The club's reserve grade and U16 teams in particular had stellar seasons last year, with both making finals and the latter claiming the league championship.

Plenty of stars emerged from those two teams in 2023. Gordon's first graders themselves also had a youthful crop, including the likes of Ella Giles, Sophie Emery and Mia McGovern playing in the top division for the majority of the season.

The likes of those just mentioned plus more will have learnt a lot from their first season, according to Gordon.

The coach said he was looking to improve this year after a promising sixth placed finish in 2023.

"We've had a really young group of girls but they worked hard and really wanted to push on in first grade," he said.

"We had a great reserve grade team last year and I think it was the first time in the club or for a lot of years that the reserve grade team made the semis, which was fantastic.

"The girls really stepped up and that's why a lot of these girls are getting opportunities here in the first place. So I guess one of my roles has been trying to give the inexperienced girls a bit of a start. But now those girls have played a bit which is really good because they're a bit more accustomed to it.

"I'm just hoping to start the first rounds well."

The Stingrays will again have A-League Women's talent at their disposal in the form of Danika Matos, but not until a couple of months into the season due to the overlapping of the professional competition and the beginning of the NPL.

Gordon added that he was hopeful of some signings with A-League credentials before the season began.

The NPL NSW Women's season will kick-off on March 3 with seven games on the opening Sunday. For the Stingrays, they will have ample opportunity to get off the ground running with three of their first four games at Macedonia Park.