Former Jets striker Adriana Jones is finding her feet in China after a breakout W-League season for Adelaide.
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Jones is playing for Guangdong Soka in Guangzhou, a city of 14 million in south-east China, in the country’s second-tier women’s competition.
The 21-year-old joined Soka after scoring nine goals in 11 W-League games for Adelaide over the summer.
She started just three games for the Jets in the 2015-16 season and moved to Adelaide in search of more game time while her father, Mark, was coaching the Reds’ women’s and youth teams.
But Mark signed on to coach Newcastle soon after, and father and daughter swapped cities.
Jones reinvigorated her career in South Australia while her father ended his first year as an A-League coach with the wooden spoon and without a job.
Guangdong Soka have played twice this season, and Jones scored on debut in a 2-1 away win over Zhejiang Rhine Da.
She admitted the Chinese league was a very different playing experience to anywhere she had been, but she was happy to have a goal under her belt.
“It has its ups and down, as anything does, and it’s very difficult at times, but I am managing and growing each day,” she told the Herald from China.
“It’s the most demanding training I’ve done in years, but it’s definitely going to be something that will help me grow as both a player and a person.”
The Novocastrian said the living arrangements in China were also very different to Australian clubs. Her entire team live together at a football complex.
“We eat, train and sleep on the base here. I’m sharing an apartment with my translator, but all of the players, coaching staff and even the younger teams of the club live on the base, too.”
She said playing in Asia would help her technical ability when she returned to Australia.
“Technically they’re all very tidy, and each team and player here competes at a consistently high standard, which differs to back home, where each player’s performance can range from standout to average each week.”
Jones has experienced the language barrier and cultural differences of Asian football once before. She joined her father during his coaching stints in 2011-12 for Malaysian side Sabah FA and Chinese Super League team Chongqing Lifan FC.
She signed with the Jets as a teenager in 2013-14.
