Newcastle Jets coach Ash Wilson is happy to have a W-League commencement date to work towards, even if no other plans for the upcoming season have been unveiled.
Many hope the 14th instalment of the women's national league will finally be expanded to a full home-and-away season, especially with the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup headed to Australian shores.
It has remained virtually unchanged since its inception in 2008 and currently there are nine teams who only play 12 games in the season proper.
But the only information that has been given for the 2021-22 W-League season is the November 13 kick-off.
"That's all we know so far," Wilson said. "But it helps your planning to have a start date. That gives you an idea about when your pre-season can start and then from there you can set your pre-season training schedule.
"So, that at least allows you to lock in your first six weeks of your training block. It also helps to be able to communicate to potential recruits when you're looking at starting and when they'd need to be here by.
"In that respect, it does allow you to start that planning phase."
Wilson has hinted she will look abroad for experienced players to strengthen her squad while also continuing to invest in local talent.
"COVID-19 is making it a little bit difficult," Wilson said. "We're eyeing off trying to get some people from overseas and the club is supportive of that, but obviously there are some other things that could potentially make that difficult at this stage.
"We've had the release of the first two players and, hopefully, in the coming weeks there will be a couple more releases of signings."
Wilson also coaches the Jets Academy side, who play in the NSW National Premier League Women's. The Sydney-based competition is on hold due to coronavirus lockdown orders. Wilson said while they could not play competition games, the Jets Academy continued to train and play intra-club matches.
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