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Gold Coast girls make their mark in the US

Australia's #5 Tess Keeley battles with Birmingham United's #4 Katherine Rankin during their match of U-17 Club teams at the Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac, Monday September 26, 2011. (Oakland Press Photo By: Vaughn Gurganian)Birmingham United goalie #8 Lisa White can't stop this shot by Australia's Harriet Withers resulting in a goal that gave Australia a 1-0 lead during their match of U-17 Club teams at the Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac, Monday September 26, 2011. (Oakland Press Photo By: Vaughn Gurganian)

Birmingham United's #11 Allison Loeffler and Australia's #8 Amy Morland go after a loose ball during their match of U-17 Club teams at the Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac, Monday September 26, 2011. (Oakland Press Photo By: Vaughn Gurganian)PONTIAC — Professional and national soccer teams frequently get the opportunity to play “friendlies,” against other countries — matches played outside of tournament action for the sole sake of competition and goodwill.

When Birmingham Unified, a local 17-and-under club team, made up of high school girls soccer stars from around southern Oakland County, was offered the opportunity to play a friendly with the Gold Coast Football Club out of Australia, they jumped at the chance.

On Monday, Birmingham Unified and Gold Coast played a spirited match at the Pontiac Ultimate Soccer Arena, with the foreigners coming away with a 6-0 win.

“We really wanted this match,” Unified head coach and team manager Anousha Shifteh said. “This type of experience is invaluable. The exposure to other styles of play and the understanding of different game strategies that playing against clubs from other parts of the world brings is very important for young, up-and-coming players. Everyone learned a lot today and that’s why we wanted to play a skilled team like Gold Coast.”

Made up the best teenage girls players from their country’s region, Gold Coast has been romping its way through the United States the past 10 days, destroying everyone in its path on the pitch.

Starting off in California with two lopsided wins, the squad came to Michigan late last week and opened up play against a club team from Troy, cruising to a 10-0 victory.

The Gold Coast players were impressed by the level of respect female athletes are afforded in the United States.

“This is my first time in the U.S. and I think it’s really cool the way girls players around here are treated and the great facilities they get to play in like we did today,” said Gold Coast co- captain Alicia Van Laarhoven, after the match. “The boys in our country are taken more seriously than us, but here it seems more equal. That’s pretty awesome.”

Taylor Stevens, Van Laarhoven’s fellow team captain, is having a blast on the trip and was beaming with a smile ear-to-ear following the match on Monday.

“The whole trip has been amazing,” she said. “I’m having so much fun.”

Gold Coast is coached by Gary French, the one-time head girls coach at Bloomfield Hills Lahser, who took the Knights to four straight district championships and one regional title in his tenure from 2000-2004.

Shifteh’s Unified team is headlined by his daughter, Parisa, a star forward from Birmingham Groves.

“We’re basically a big family and we live for playing soccer together,” she said.

Over the weekend, Parisa scored five goals as Unified took home first place in the Rochester Force Tournament.

Besides the younger Shifteh, Unified has five other Groves Falcons on its roster, including Lindsey Howe, Beth Moran, Shannon Everly, Abby Sklar and Katie Kunkle. Other local schools represented on Unified are Birmingham Seaholm (Katherine Rankin, Lisa White, Madeline Rohr, Alison Loeffler), Birmingham Marian (Caroline Beihl, Jesse Lennon) and Bloomfield Hills Andover (Anna Kemp).Last Updated: 9/27/2011 12:03:43 PM EST