Caoimhe Bray hopes to kickstart a big week of football by leading the Jets Academy to glory in the Football NSW Girls Youth One under-14 grand final at Valentine Sports Park on Saturday.
Bray is co-captain and goalkeeper of the under-13 team, which plays up an age division in the Sydney competition.
They are the only girls team from the Jets Academy to feature in finals and booked a championship showdown against Football NSW Institute with a convincing 2-0 victory over North West Sydney Spirit in the semi-finals last weekend.
Football NSW Institute, who also play up an age group, beat premiers Blacktown Spartans 3-2 in their semi-final.
"It's been a great year," Bray told the Newcastle Herald this week.
"I've definitely grown in confidence and our team has improved so much. That obviously shows because we just got into the grand final and hopefully we can win that.
"We were hoping to verse the Institute and were very excited when they got through because the two youngest teams in the competition made it into the grand final."
The Muswellbrook Eagles junior is one of the youngest players in her team at 12.
Bray will celebrate her 13th birthday next week at the Football Australia National Youth Championships in Coffs Harbour.
Along with Jets Academy teammate and leading scorer Sophie Johnson, Bray will represent Northern NSW in the under-14 girls national competition.
Jets Academy co-captain and centre-back Layla Sharpe, 13, has been named as a reserve for the tournament, which starts Monday.
The immediate focus is on another strong performance for the Jets Academy side, who are coached by Rebekah Stuart and Craig Soper.
"It's very exciting," Sharpe said. "I wasn't expecting it this year to start off with as a new team, but it's great for us. The girls have developed a lot of skills this year and they're a great group.
"It was a great effort in the semi-finals and it felt very good to win. The girls played excellent, one of the best games we've played all season."
The Jets Academy finished the season third by goal difference on equal points (42) with second-placed Spirit. Football NSW Institute (41) were fourth.
The grand final opponents have met twice this campaign. The first exchange ended in a draw and Newcastle won the second 1-0 with a last-minute penalty.
Stuart has been impressed by their continued growth.
"As coaches, Craig and I were aiming for mid-table and hadn't even thought about making the grand final," Stuart said.
"But as the games went on and the girls grew into the physicality and the speed of the game, we started to realise that they were a very, very special group that could go on and achieve things.
"They've just kept on building and kept on growing and developing."
