USL Feature
Saturday, October 22, 2011
By NICHOLAS MURRAY
Since a summer spent playing for the LA Strikers in the USL W-League, Julie-Ann Russell is now trying to help her country achieve something it never has before – qualify for a major international tournament.
The Republic of Ireland international, who played in 13 games for the Strikers this summer, has become a mainstay in the national team squad, which plays its third group game in Women’s European Cup qualifying on Saturday against Israel. While age-group teams from the country have previously qualified for finals, the Women’s U17 team qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, the full Irish national team has yet to accomplish such a feat.
With the way the women’s sport is progressing in Ireland, though, Russell believes that it’s only a matter of time before they make that breakthrough.
“It would mean the world to me to help my country qualify for the first time in history,” Russell said by email this week. “Women’s football is developing in leaps in bounds in Ireland and I would love to be involved in the first team ever to qualify.”
Ireland is grouped with World Cup semifinalist France, Scotland, Wales and Israel. While the powerful French side that handed Ireland a 3-1 defeat in their last game are the favorites to win the group, taking second place and qualifying through a two-legged playoff appears to be within reach for the Irish side. Scotland appears to be their main competition for the runner-up berth, with their two meetings next year appearing the major contests in their bid to reach the finals in Sweden.
One of the youngest members of the squad at just 20 years old, Russell was developed through the country’s national team program, representing Ireland at the U15 and U17 national team levels before making her senior debut in 2009. Eager to play as much as possible to continue her development, she was very happy with the experience she received playing for the Strikers this summer.
“My summer with the Strikers was amazing,” Russell said. “I had such a brilliant time with them and learned lots. I feel since playing over there I have developed more as a player.”
For now, Russell is not only focused on playing for Peamount United in the inaugural season of the Irish Women’s National League and for her national team but is also continuing her pursuit of a degree in business, majoring in marketing. Playing for Peamount will also help her development - the club was Ireland’s representative in this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League, and contains a number of Russell’s teammates from the national team. She’s hopeful that getting a national league established will continue the progress that women’s soccer has seen in the country in the past five years.
“It was great to be coming home and signing for a top club,” Russell said. “My experience so far has been top class. It is a great club with an excellent manager and talented teammates. I have really enjoyed playing with them so far.”
As for the future, Russell is certainly hopeful that soccer will allow her more experiences like the one she received with the Strikers this summer. With the women’s game finding new levels of popularity in not just North America but also Europe and a new league recently being established in Australia, it certainly seems as though she will be able to pursue her goals for the future.
“I hope to be able to play to my best ability and to continue winning and pursue a great career,” Russell said. “I would like to play my football in different countries and experience their cultures and different styles of football. I would hope that I am on an Ireland team that qualifies for a major competition.”
With the way Russell and her teammates are progressing, that final goal has never appeared closer.