Dakota, a 12-year-old Bega Primary School student, is the next rising sporting talent in the local area, set to follow in the footsteps of Ed Barlow, Kai Otton and Susan Pratley.

The young midfielder’s selection in the 13 years National All Schools NSW football side has thrilled the local soccer community who recognise a special emerging talent.

In addition, Dakota will compete in the Primary School Soccer Association (PSSA) Championships which will be held in Melbourne in September.

She is the only player to be selected in the PSSA Championships from the Far South Coast, highlighting her immense talent.

Dakota’s mum, Louise, is “delighted” about the support that her daughter has received.

“I am so proud of Dakota for what she has achieved already and the whole school has really got behind her, organising fundraisers to help out,” she said.

Dakota will travel to Sydney next week to compete in the Friendship Games, which are being held at Valentine Park.

The Friendship Games feature the best age group players across Australia representing their respective states and territories.

“I’m really excited about the upcoming competition”, she said.

“I’ve loved the game since I was little so it’s really important to me.”

The aim of the tournament is to promote a peer pressure free atmosphere, enabling players to reach their performance peek.

Dakota will be joined by two other members from the Far South Coast for the tournament, Nicole Constable from Bega and Caitlin Pattie from Merimbula.

Dakota was initially selected in the squad through the State and Country Soccer Championships, which was held at Dubbo in the October school holidays last year.

She got her major break through elimination training processes in Sydney and Bathurst, which have been occurring since November last year.

“I’ve had to be really committed because of the travelling and amount of training involved,” Dakota said.

The amount of pressure to commit cannot be underestimated, with Dakota going up to Sydney every two weeks for intense five-hour practice sessions.

“It’s pretty cool though because I have heaps of friends that I have made in the team anyway,” she said.

The final step in the State selection process involved Dakota competing in a number of representative matches, which were held in Penrith and Bateman’s Bay recently.

Dakota lists Joanne Peters from the Australian Matilda’s soccer team as her sporting idol and even had the honour

of meeting her at a function in Sydney recently.

In terms of the future, Dakota is happy to keep involved with the game.

“I hope to make a career out of it, but even if I don’t, I’d still play,” she said.

Dakota and Bega Primary School are looking for any business that wishes to sponsor a young soccer talent on the rise.

A sausage sizzle will be held on July 17 and 18 in front of Kydd’s Butchery in Bega, to raise funds to support Dakota.

The next rising sporting star from the Bega Valley, Dakota Taylor prepares for a busy upcoming year of soccer