Adelaide United’s Liberty A-League side will kick off its 2023/24 season at Coopers Stadium on Sunday afternoon and stand-in captain Dylan Holmes cannot wait.
Holmes was this week announced as part of a leadership group including newly reappointed captain Isabel Hodgson and fellow vice-captain Maruschka Waldus.
With both Hodgon and Waldus recovering from injury, Holmes will don the captain’s armband to lead out the Reds against Canberra United.
Speaking ahead of the game, Holmes was confident others would step up in the absence of the leaders. She also discussed the club’s increased investment in women’s football and women’s sporting clubs banding together to promote each other as part of The Power of Her initiative.
Dylan Holmes on the season kicking off on Sunday:
“There’s such a buzz through the team. I think we’ve been counting down to this game for, for me for months, as soon as I saw it was a standalone game at Coopers I’ve just been so excited. So yeah, the mood is really good. And we’re all looking forward to being out here.
“We love playing at Coopers we would love to play Coopers every single week if we could so when we do get to play here, we don’t take it for granted. It’s a beautiful pitch. It’s my favourite stadium in Australia. And I’m really hoping off the back of the Women’s World Cup we can get a really good crowd on Sunday to cheer us on to hopefully getting three points.”
Dylan Holmes on stepping up in the absence of injured captain Isabel Hodgson and fellow vice-captain Maruschka Waldus.
“I think those are two really big players for us and you know, a lot of leadership and experience between them but it’s an opportunity for some of the younger girls to play and really step up to the plate a little bit and show those leadership qualities that, Mush and Izzy kind of have always had for us. So, yeah, it’s a big loss but it’s also a great opportunity for the rest of the team as well.”
Dylan Holmes on seeing the club increase its investment in women’s football, including her coach Adrian Stenta becoming the club’s first ever full-time women’s coach:
“I’ve been at this club for almost 10 years now so to see where it was then to where it is now, and the fact that our head coach is full-time is pretty incredible. It’s really great to see the steps that Adelaide United has made over the years to get to this point. And I think it’s an amazing achievement for the club. We still have a long way to go but it’s really exciting. I hope we can use the momentum from the World Cup to continue to invest in the program and continue to get good people like Adrian involved in a more full-time basis.
Dylan Holmes on the South Australia’s elite women’s sporting teams coming together to promote each other through the Power of Her initiative:
It’s a really cool concept. I was at the lunch on Monday and and it was really interesting to talk to the other girls from the different sports and hear about their experiences. I think the biggest takeaway for me was that we’re so much stronger together and I think if we can use each other’s fan bases and use each other’s resources to an extent and really kind of promote each other, I think everybody wins from that. And so, this week, our home game is the first The Power of Her game for this season, which means that if you are a member from any of those other sporting codes, you get free tickets to our game on Sunday. So, I really hope people take advantage of that. And, you know, I’ll definitely be taking advantage of that for other sports through the summer as well.
Tickets for the game can be purchased here, with prices starting at just $5.00 for children under the age of 12.
