AFC Bournemouth
Katie James, Molly Clark and Betty Barron have all played their part in England Beach Soccer's recent success, qualifying for the World Beach Games in Bali next year.
This week, the side were competing in Catania for a place in the competition finals and went on to not just book their spot, but win the qualifiers.
A brace from Clark late on in the semi-final against the world's top-ranked side Spain ensured that England would take on Ukraine for the trophy.
Former Cherries forward Gemma Hillier opened the scoring in the final, before Clark, who was voted the competition's MVP, doubled the lead as the clock ticked down. A third was added in the dying stages to grant England victory on the sand.
The side, which could also feature goalkeeper Katie Scadding, will now head to Bali next year with high hopes, having come runners up in 2019 as the finals took place in Qatar.
Following the successes of the last week, AFC Bournemouth's Katie James shared her delight at qualifying for the finals.
"We're all over the moon. We've managed to get to a few finals recently and stumbled at the last hurdle. From day one of this tournament, our goal was to win it - qualification for the World Beach Games wasn't enough for us.
"We knew we had the quality and togetherness to do more than just qualify and that determination paid off, going unbeaten throughout the whole competition."
She went on to discuss her pride at the performance against Ukraine in the final and the professionalism her side showed throughout.
"It was Ukraine's first final, so we know they would come out all guns blazing. The first period of the game was pretty even, I think we created more chances but lacked a little bit of quality in front of goal.
"The second and third period, we really put our foot on the gas. We dominated possession and the goals started to flow through Gemma and Molly. We then wrapped the game up in the third period with our third goal.
"As a defensive player, that was the second clean sheet we'd kept in the tournament, which for beach soccer is no easy task, so personally I was really pleased with that. All the girls put their bodies on the line defensively and the work rate going backwards was unreal. It gave us a massive platform to build on going forward."
Barron also discussed her involvement and how much she's looking forward to playing in Bali next year.
"I'm very much looking forward to the finals. The World Beach Games bring a whole different level of excitement and anticipation. It is the biggest tournament that we can play in so the side are very excited to have another opportunity to play in the games and represent Team GB.
"Coming runners up last time was frustrating as you're so close to the top and having only lost 3-2 meant it was a close game. However, every year the game is getting stronger and we'll have to train harder than we ever have before to be able to reach the same levels.
"We're confident we can get there with hard work and the togetherness of the team."
MVP Clark, who was voted the best player in the world in November 2021, added her thoughts on picking up individual and team honours in Catania.
"It's always great to pick up an individual award, but it's even better when you're winning as a team. To walk away with both of that is an amazing feeling. It was a great tournament for all the players and any one of us could've won the MVP, but it feels great to pick up a little extra on top of a great team performance.
"Being back to winning ways is a great feeling for the team and manager. For us all to be together and performing how we know we're capable of is an amazing feeling. It's great knowing that we're going to Bali next year and to have won this tournament just like we did back in 2018 feels brilliant.
"We've come here again and absolutely smashed it this time round. We're unbeaten and hopefully can continue this run onto the next tournament."
