Never in their wildest dreams did the STFA girls u14 and u16 representative teams think they would get to train with a former Matilda.
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That's what happened when Heather Garriock came to town on Friday, July 17.
The 37-year-old, who represented her country 130 times, put the girls through their paces at Cookbundoon and aimed to show them what they were capable of.
The two hour session, organised by head of Football NSW Peter Hugg in less than a week, helped players fine tune their skills, but it was more about having fun.
Garriock said this was a fantastic opportunity for the girls and they were very lucky.
"They get to be able to see someone who's played and coached football at an elite level," Garriock said.
"For me, I'm just glad to be able to come here and see all the young girls who are talented.
"Hopefully I inspire them."
When Garriock was the girls' ages, she was playing for the Marconi Stallions in Western Sydney before making her debut for the Matildas aged 16.
"I explained my journey to the girls which was really nice and it brought back fond memories of me playing with my friends, enjoying the game and working on the technical side of my game," she said.
"Having said that, the most important thing for them right now is to fall in love with football."
Heather Garriock also spoke to the girls about the different pathways there are to playing football professionally and also about why she wanted to play for the Matildas as a kid.
With Australia recently winning the bid to host the 2023 Women's World Cup, the former Matilda said their love of football would definitely grow rapidly.
"With regards to the Matildas and the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, it's only going to unite everybody in the football fraternity," she said.
"For young boys and girls, it would be such a good dream to go two hours from here and go to a World Cup final."
The Kieren Perkins admirer represented Australia in two Olympics and two World Cups and had plenty of success with Sydney FC, winning two premierships and one championship.
The girls hope their dream session with Heather Garriock will help them prepare for the Country Cup on the October long weekend.
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