2025 Emerging Matildas Championships live stream: The stories behind a big week of football in Sydney

Midfield maestro Zali Black is not only pinching herself she’s featuring at the Emerging Matilda Championships – she’s making a big impact for the undefeated Northern NSW.

Byron Bay is an underrated sporting nursery in the Northern Rivers region of NSW, and they’re hoping another young gun will make it big.

Zali Black is part of the Northern NSW U15s side that is enjoying a stellar Emerging Matildas Championships campaign to date.

Through the opening three days they remain undefeated, with Black playing a key role in the midfield, including a 9-0 hammering of Tasmania on Thursday.

The young talent still pinching herself that she gets to feature at an event like this.

“It’s pretty surreal,” Black said.

Northern NSW young gun Zali Black has impressed at the Emerging Matildas Championships. Picture: Sean Teuma

“I’m very proud of myself. I’ve put in all the effort and I’m glad to be here.

“It’s a very professional environment and I’ m enjoying it.”

The Black family has made the trip down to Valentine Sports Park to support their young star who is putting the team goals before her own.

“I hope the whole team gets a good result. As a team we work well together and we’ve trained hard for this. I think we deserve to go far in this tournament,” she said.

“I think we have the skills and determination to take it the whole way.

“For myself, I just want to play my best football and put my best foot forward.

Catch all the action from the Emerging Matildas Championships on KommunityTV, via the links below.

“I’ve played in a few overseas tournaments with Northern NSW, but it’s my first time in an environment like this and I’m loving it.

“I’m very happy. I’m proud of myself but there’s still a long way to go. I’m very excited just for the rest of the tournament.

“The first two days have been amazing, they’re the best two days of football I’ve played. I’m just keen to keep playing.”

Northern NSW showed they won’t be bullied around by anybody, mixing it with a strong NSW Sky team in an arduous 1-all draw to cap a strong start to the tournament.

“It was good, it was tough. It was a very physical game. Both sides were very determined,” she said.

“I feel like we were pretty level the whole time. I think we went out there with confidence and so did they. It ended in a draw which I thought was a very fair result.”

City move paying off for SA starlet

Ashlyn Cornolo made the move from Mount Gambier to Adelaide to further her blossoming football career, and it’s paying dividends.

Cornolo is the captain of the South Australia U15s side at the Matildas Emerging Championships as they look to take the fight to the proverbial bigger states.

She’s been playing the sport her entire life, with the skipper putting her team first as they chase glory against the best.

South Australia's Ashlyn Cornolo at the Emerging Matildas Championships. Picture: Sean Teuma

“I started when I was about four in the MiniRoos and have been playing ever since,: Cornolo said.

“I get lots of support from home. My mum and dad are here and my brothers are watching at home. Obviously I want to represent my state, play a good game and hopefully get noticed.

“But playing a good team game, all working together and hopefully coming out on top (is what’s most important).”

South Australia showed how lethal its attack can be, coming from 1-0 down to defeat Tasmania 5-1 in its round two encounter.

The South Australia Under-15s girls kicked five unanswered goals against Tasmania.

“It felt good out there. As a team we play together well,” she said.

“The first half was a bit hard. We just weren’t finding each other. But we came together really nicely in the second half and just played our game.

“(The goal before halftime) picked up all the girls. It led to our next few. Our mentality really picked up.”

Their next test comes in the form of an undefeated NSW Sky outfit, but Cornolo has belief in her team that they can match them.

“The intensity of all the teams is really high. The matches are hard but I think we’re doing well to push through.

“(NSW Sky) is going to be a very big challenge but if we all work together and play how we’ve played before I think we’ll do good.”

Capital keeper breaking through pain barrier

A fractured finger can’t slow down ACT dynamo Ingrid Laursen as she blocks everything in her path at the Emerging Matildas Championships.

Earlier this year the goalkeeper was chosen in the Junior Matildas squad to continue her rise to the top, before an untimely injury almost threatened to derail her chance to impress in front of national scouts.

“I did it (the injury) while I was at school. I thought it was nothing too serious at first, but I got an X-ray and they told me I had a fracture,” she said.

Capital Football goalkeeper Ingrid Laursen at the 2025 Emerging Matildas Championships. Picture: Sean Teuma.

“It’s not ideal leading into a tournament, but I’ve been through my recovery and I’m taking it carefully.

“We have some upcoming tournaments with the JM’s (Junior Matildas) so I’m really pushing to get selected.”

This marks Laursen’s fourth and final appearance at the national championships as the Majura junior continues to stamp her claims as one of the region’s most exciting prospects.

With some key tournaments coming up, Laursen knows the importance of putting her best foot forward as she looks to push for higher honours.

“It’s my last year so I’m definitely going for gold,” she said.

“You take a lot from being with the team. We spend a lot of time together and get really close.

“You also take the fact there are scouts here and you need to take it seriously at the same time.”

Capital Football has enjoyed an undefeated start to the Emerging Matildas Championships, backing up their draw against WA with a win over Queensland on Wednesday.

“There were a few (nervous) moments, but we showed some great teamwork,” she said.

“(The result) is definitely going to push it and hopefully we can make it to the finals.

“We played really well on Tuesday and I think we pushed ourselves even further to get the win.”

Originally published as 2025 Emerging Matildas Championships live stream: The stories behind a big week of football in Sydney