Western United will once again feature prominently at a national level with the squads announced for the 2025 Emerging Socceroos and Emerging Matildas Championships.
A rebrand of the annual National Youth Championships, the tournaments are set to take place in July with the boys’ category – Emerging Socceroos Championships – held in Melbourne at The Home of The Matildas.
This year, 20 young talents from the Western United Academy have been selected to compete, representing another excellent year of growth for the Club with 16 selections last year and 10 in 2023.
At least one Western United player features in all six of the Victorian sides with three teams each in the Under 15’s and Under 16’s draws.
Western United Academy Director Anthony Frost celebrated the achievements of each player and is eager to watch their progress next month.
“This is another significant and proud moment for our Club and for the success of our Junior Academy pathway,” he said.
“Each of these 20 players have represented Western United with distinction in the past 12 months and have been a credit to their families, richly deserving this opportunity.
“I would like to congratulate each and every one of them for this outstanding achievement and I look forward to the opportunity to watch their progress here in Melbourne.”
In 2024, United talents Winston Ashburner, Will Kengni and Zain Imran helped the U15 Blue team to win the Championship, and they have all been selected together again to compete in the U16 Blue team. They have been joined by United teammate Flynn Slater.
There is a distinct family feel across Western United’s selections, too.
Jordan Vonja (U15 Blue), Rinor Kutleshi (U15 White), Chaouki Kaddour (U16 Silver) and Karim Kaddour (U16 White) are all recognisable names with relations to Western United Isuzu UTE A-League Men scholars, while Evan Horvat also features in the U16 Silver squad – son of Western United Director of Football and former Socceroo Steve Horvat.
In addition to the 20 male talents, Western United also celebrates two selections from Calder United for the Emerging Matildas Championships with Mikaela Witt and Alyssa Di Natale picked in the U15 Blue team.
Both Witt and Di Natale have been starring well above their own age group, playing in the Calder United Under 17’s side that sits in fifth place on the table.
And it’s not just on the pitch where the Western United impact is felt, either, with a number of Western United alumni serving as coaches for the tournament.
Former Isuzu UTE A-League assistant coach John Anastasiadis will lead the boys’ U16 Blue team while Vaughan Coveny, who coached Western United’s Under 21’s side for the first three years, will be looking to guide the U15 Blue boys to a third straight title.
One of United’s inaugural Junior Academy coaches in Jorge Gero will be heading the girls’ U16 White squad while former Calder United and Western United Junior Academy coach Andy Burnett will lead two squads, the U15 White team in the Emerging Matildas tournament and the U15 Silver outfit in the Emerging Socceroos Championship.
Full list of Western United Emerging Socceroos and Emerging Matildas Championships participants
| EMERGING SOCCEROOS CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYERS | |
| U15 Victoria Blue | Jordan Vonja |
| U15 Victoria Silver | Aidan Adams Santiago Brown Seth Popovski Maalek Bakkar |
| U15 Victoria White | Rinor Kutleshi Zac Meilak |
| U16 Victoria Blue | Zain Imran Flynn Slater Winston Ashburner Will Kengni |
| U16 Victoria Silver | Evan Horvat Chaouki Kaddour |
| U16 Victoria White | Karim Kaddour Oliver Dimovski Luka Primarano Joshua Traikos Orlando Chrysis John Woldegiorgis Matthew Catalano |
| EMERGING MATILDAS CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYERS | |
| U15 Victoria Blue | Mikaela Witt (Calder United) Alyssa Di Natale (Calder United) |
| WESTERN UNITED COACHING ALUMNI | |
| U15 Victoria White (Emerging Matildas) and U15 Victoria Silver (Emerging Socceroos) | Andy Burnett |
| U16 Victoria White (Emerging Matildas) | Jorge Gero |
| U15 Victoria Blue (Emerging Socceroos) | Vaughan Coveny |
| U16 Victoria Blue (Emerging Socceroos) | John Anastasiadis |
