Sport
Lancaster’s Laura Stone is kicking goals on the soccer field, picked for Melbourne City and Victoria’s under-12s
Nestled in the humming irrigation district of the Goulburn Valley, Lancaster is known for its sun-baked charm and fierce footy team, not its ability to produce soccer starlets.
That has now changed.
Lancaster pre-teen Laura Stone is a whirlwind talent whose star and stocks are rising like no tomorrow in the wake of her latest achievement.
The Australian Christian College Echuca student was recently picked for Victoria’s 12-and-under girls’ side set to compete at the School Sports Australia Championships in Perth on October 13-18.
Stone, 12, voiced her keenness to make her mark when she and the rest of the state’s best young female players head west to vie for national domination.
“I had to go to multiple trials in Darebin in Melbourne (to make the team),” Stone said.
“I was very excited (when I got picked) and I’m excited for what happens next.”
It’s no mean feat for Stone to make the state team.
Moreover, she’s played the sport for less than half of her young life, bitten by the soccer bug after her sibling opted to kick the round ball around first.
“Well, it all started with my brother,” Stone said.
“He asked my dad ‘can we play soccer?’ and he considered it and I just followed along and played. I started when I was seven and just kept going.
“I play right back, so that’s mostly defending and playing the ball. I don’t do much goal scoring.”
As a fullback, Stone’s role isn’t so much about lacing the ball into the opposition net.
Her job is to keep the thing out of her own goal.
Stone has molded her game around the exploits of a famous fullback: Steph Catley, the Arsenal and Matildas defender who dazzled during Australia’s heroic Fifa Women’s World Cup run in 2023.
After all, the little Lancaster legend wants to beat a similar path to Catley one day.
“My main goal would probably be making the A-League Melbourne City team and a bonus would probably be making the Matildas,” she said.
“That would be great too.”
Stone is already making great strides toward her primary goal, training Monday nights in Bundoora through Melbourne City’s girls’ pathway.
From there, her week ramps up tenfold.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays Stone hits the training park with Shepparton South’s under-12 side where she thrives among the boys, noting she has to “push harder and play harder”.
When Saturday comes around, it’s one game for South followed by another for Shepparton Junior Soccer Association/Goulburn Valley Suns, capping a soccer-studded week for Stone.
She’s as committed as 12-year-olds come, so could Lancaster soon lay claim to the next Melbourne City or Matildas wunderkind?
If Stone keeps it up, there’s no reason why not.