Soccer: Six Tamworth North Companions players will feature in the Women's World Cup

On July 28, Elsie Newton, Eve Simpson, Jade Krsulja, Kyiah Holland, Kirra Palmer, and Lacey Palmer, will walk on to the field at Allianz Stadium as flagbearers for the Women's World Cup clash between England and Denmark.

Even though the North Companions juniors will soon be just metres away from some of the best footballers in the world, the magnitude of the moment took time to sink in for some.

"She wasn't over the moon until she realised what she would be doing," Stefanie Newton, Elsie's mother, said.

"Then she became excited ... they're all getting very excited."

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This opportunity arose through Football Australia's Game Changer program, which is designed to try and increase grassroots participation in the sport.

Thirty-two clubs from the Northern NSW Football zone entered the draw to participate in the World Cup, and eight winners were selected from that number, including North Companions.

"Clubs are all run by volunteers, and anything that we can do as a governing body to support those clubs is a good thing," Northern NSW Football project manager club development, Phillip Andrews, said.

"If we can do it through this program, which is nicely structured and there to support the clubs, that just makes it easier for us to reach out and get those clubs involved."

The North Companions members who will take to the field for the England-Denmark game were chosen through an intra-club raffle, with the only limitations that they were to be girls, registered players, and aged between 12 and 17.

It was, according to club president Steve Mitchell, a "difficult task".

"What we decided was that we would put it out to the parents and the kids, of those who are eligible in our club, and if they responded by a certain date essentially they went in our draw," Mitchell said.

"We live streamed that draw and used the random number generator and came up with some winners."

It is not just the kids who are ecstatic about participating in the World Cup. The clubs, coaches, and the parents can scarcely believe it is happening, and Newton said "even for us parents, it's not real until we have to drop them off".

But, as Andrews said, it is a "once in a lifetime opportunity".

"We won't see the World Cup here again for a decade or two at least," he said.

"To be on the field for one of these games is genuinely exciting for the kids."

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