Impetus’ Ben Gilby concludes his series speaking to all three of the Western Australian members of the Australian Schoolgirls squad tour of the UK with this chat with Klaudia Houlis (28/2/26)
Above: Klaudia Houlis in action for the Australian Schoolgirls team during their tour of the UK in January. Photo: Instagram.
Regular NPLW WA watchers have known for several years what a dangerous weapon Klaudia Houlis is. After her final season with the Football West Academy under her belt, the attacker received the ultimate recognition – selection for the Australian Schoolgirls squad.
It was an honour that she couldn’t quite believe at the time. “I have never been so shocked than I was when I heard my name called out!”, Houlis smiled, “After being selected for the Western Australia team, we went to Brisbane and played against the other states. This is where the Australian school girls coach would pick the players as well as a shadow squad in case people can’t go.”
Houlis’ recognises that her place in the squad is an especially strong validation of her footballing talents due to the challenges that Western Australian players may face to be selected for a national squad, as many such squads consist of large cohorts from the east coast of the country.
The attacker said: “I think for WA girls, opportunities like this one are definitely more scarce. Obviously we are an isolated state, but on top of that I think we are highly underestimated as well. I mean when you look at most Australian teams 90% of them are from NSW.”
In terms of building relationships with her interstate teammates, it was a case of having to hit the ground running once the team landed in the UK. “We didn’t really know who we were meeting until we got to the airport. Obviously, we took a photo together when we first got selected but we didn’t know each others names or anything like that.
“The most important thing I learnt whilst being away was how crucial it is to know the people around you before you play with them. Of course our team was at a high level regardless of whether we knew each other or not, but the difference in comfort and confidence when you know who your on the pitch with makes football more enjoyable.”
Despite that early barrier having to be overcome, the squad’s determination and adaptability was shown in spades as they developed a strong understanding in those early training sessions to go on to enjoy an unbeaten tour – which included games against the likes of Arsenal and Crystal Palace.
There was one further, and potentially larger hurdle for the squad to get over. The weather. Whilst the UK is known to be pretty chilly in January, the winter this year over there has been very mild and extremely wet. Except when the team were there. Their stay coincided with the UK’s only severe cold spell of their winter.
It was an experience that Houlis looks back on ruefully. “It was such a big shift. I mean you go from partly cloudy but sunny weather in Perth to negative degrees so it was weird to adjust to.
“The cold was a huge shock. I completely underestimated the weather and only put two hoodies in my suitcase. Playing in such cold weather makes it hard to breathe so it took some time to adjust to that as well.”
Whilst the team achieved outstanding performances and results, they also made life long memories off the pitch, as the attacker takes up.
“I loved the girls that we met over there. They were all so welcoming and by the end we were quite close mates. I think that’s one of the reasons we did so well as a team on the pitch. Our opposition for most of the tournament weren’t very challenging, however the last game against Arsenal was much more equal and we really had to fight for the 2-1 win.
“All the opportunities off the pitch were incredible. I was happy to be walking in the streets of England no matter where we were. Honestly, seeing the typical tourist attractions were my favourite, the whole thing felt very surreal. We also went on a tour through the Manchester United stadium. It was amazing to see the behind the scenes of what we are all aiming for.”
Houlis has now been back in Perth for a while and is preparing for a new season at a new club after coming out of the Football West Academy set-up and heading for Perth RedStar, where she has already got minutes under her belt in the Night Series competition.
The teenager is determined to showcase her skills as part of a RedStar side who will be going all out to bring titles and trophies back to Joondalup in 2026. Talking about her move, Houlis said: “I’m so happy to be there, the environment is great and I feel like we have a lot to offer this season.
“Personally I’ll be focusing on one game at a time and further developing my performance as best as I can. My immediate aims are just to keep working as hard as I am to improve as a player, as well as using my games with RedStar to hopefully showcase what I can do.”
To read the other articles in this three part series:
Hannah Reynolds: https://impetusfootball.org/2026/02/22/hannah-reynolds-wa-youngster-overcoming-major-challenges-to-reach-for-the-stars/
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