Two Emerging Jets Girls squads left Sydney earlier this week for Dallas, Texas, to compete for the first time in the Dallas International Girls Cup, including Port Macquarie trio Layni Fens, Hannah Jones and Emmaline Pepper. The Dallas International Girls Cup will see top premier teams from across the world, including the USA, Canada, Europe, South America, Asia and Australia that will compete in the world class female competition. The tournament takes place over three days from Wednesday 12th April through to Friday 14th April with Saturday and Sunday holding the finals. The two Emerging Jets squads participating will consist of players aged between 13-16 years. The 13 and 14 years girls will be playing in the 14s division with the 15 and 16 years to play in the 15s division. This will be the first time Northern NSW Football has sent Emerging Jets girls teams to an overseas tournament and Ryan Campbell, Emerging Jets Head of Skill Acquisition and Head Coach, believes that this will be a great opportunity to play against some top class sides as a benchmark for his side’s development. “We have been looking to find a suitable international tournament for the girls over the last couple of years and when this tournament came up we saw a lot of positives for the girl’s participation,” Campbell said. “A number of international teams are attending this tournament as well as many of the top clubs for their age group in America. “It will be good for both coaching staff and players of the Emerging Jets to get the opportunity to play against some top class international sides in order to benchmark and gain a better understanding of their development so far in the Emerging Jets Program. “I, myself, am looking forward to working with the girls in this tournament and going up against some challenging, high-quality opponents. It will be a difficult week but one that I am sure players and coaches alike will learn a lot from,” Campbell concluded. Other squads participating from Australia include sides from Football NSW and North Shore Mariners.