Dinosaurs found in Dubbo...just not in the Zoo!

Ashleigh and Nicole Sykes won't be smiling today as the league kicks off in Dubbo...without them!

There are no dinosaurs in Dubbo Zoo but they are alive and well in the local football association.

The Daily Liberal, the local Dubbo paper, reports today that Matildas stars and local Dubbo twins Ashleigh and Nicole Sykes have been training to play with a local team in the Under 18 League.

Guess what?

It's a boys league and Jim Auld and the Local Association has said NO!

Here's the article: And don't forget to add your comment at the end of the story.

Jim said this:

“Ashleigh and Nicole Sykes are really competent and delightful young ladies with a lot of natural talent and I have a lot of time for both of them,” Mr Auld said.

And this:

“But this is just one of those things - it is a male competition, just like there are female competitions which boys would not be able to play.

And he even said this:

“It is common sense that their risk of injury would be increased if they played men and I would hate for them to get injured and jeopardise their careers.

Arguments from othersas to why the girls can't play have included, "they may get hurt, referee may treat them differently based on gender or other players may back off when contesting a ball."

Stop laughing people still really say that stuff publicly!

Come on Dubbo: Never heard of Millissa Barbieri in Victoria...playing boys football...and she's in goals!!!

You've even got a letter from National Coach Tom Sermanni...Jim, do you understand the game better than Tom and the capabilities of our elite female players?

And it's not like you will have 50 girls desperate to play the game at that level is it?

Jim methinks you are going to be a popular man across Aussie media this week...take the phone off the hook...NOW!

Full article below.


Canberra United W-League stars Ashleigh and Nicole Sykes have been denied the right to play for Dubbo Football Club in this year’s Western Premier League competition.
The twins have been training with the club and were hoping to play with the under-18s side this season as part of preparations for the Under-20 World Cup qualifiers in August.

However, with the first round of matches tomorrow, which sees the Bulls pitted against Canobolas Rangers at Lady Cutler Oval, the league has stated it will not allow the Sykes girls to take the field based on the grounds that it is a men’s competiton.

The twins were yesterday training in Canberra under the guidance of Australian Matildas coach Tom Sermanni who himself reportedly requested they play in the under-18s competition.

The girls and their family were hoping to be able to play in a strong competition locally, considering they will be undertaking Year 12 and the travel demands of being in the Matildas and Canberra United squads were already limiting their time to study.

But this will not be the case.

Instead the girls could be deprived of valuable match time which would help to keep up with the physical demands of playing on the international stage.

Ashleigh and Nicole’s father Derek Sykes said he felt the decision by the WPL was upsetting and was not encouraging for aspiring female soccer players in western New South Wales.

“What hurts most is the girls want to stay in Dubbo to complete their HSC and still play competitive soccer,” Mr Sykes said.

“It’s unfortunate the WPL won’t help a couple of kids from out west.

“They have been enjoying their training with the boys who have been supportive and welcoming.

“It is upsetting when you look at what they have put back into the Dubbo community and have pushed Dubbo at every chance. What hope does it give for younger kids coming through?”

Before their rise to stardom the girls played in the Dubbo under-15 to 17 competition with boys. Sykes said this competition and the Dubbo Women’s All-Age competition would not provide the girls with the pace of game they needed to further develop their game.

He argued that at an international level the women play just as hard as the boys and that most of the W-League players do play in men’s competitions of a similar standard.

WPL co-ordinator Jim Auld said the rules stipulated that the league was strictly a men’s competition.

“Ashleigh and Nicole Sykes are really competent and delightful young ladies with a lot of natural talent and I have a lot of time for both of them,” Mr Auld said.

“But this is just one of those things - it is a male competition, just like there are female competitions which boys would not be able to play.

“It is common sense that their risk of injury would be increased if they played men and I would hate for them to get injured and jeopardise their careers.

“There are other female competitions on a par with the WPL under-18s, such as playing for Bathurst Panthers in the Super League. There is travel involved but there is also travel involved in the WPL.”