Western’s under 16 girl’s futsal team was far from disgraced at last week’s Futsal National Championships in Canberra.

The side, which included Tegan Kerr, Ellie Humphreys, Tori Worboys and Meaghan Kempson from Orange, along with Molong’s Somma Allcorn, showed improvement across the week-long tournament, despite not winning a match.

Western coach Richard Gathercole, from Orange, was rapt with the efforts of his side, which included players as young as 13.

“For some of the girls they had never played futsal but were willing to learn the difference from futsal to field play,” he said.

“All of the girls acquitted themselves well against teams who have played through their state titles and been selected to represent their state.

“The girls didn’t have the build-up like the other teams but showed a lot of determination.

“Although the girls didn’t win any games they played well, making sure they improved each game. By the end of the tournament all girls had improved and gave a great performance against the top teams.

“They didn’t let themselves down.”

Gathercole encouraged any interested players to join their local futsal competitions to build skills for next year’s championships.