2022 Season Report

W12B Season Report

The W12B’s were a new combined team this year which saw two teams come together for their first year of proper competition. The team of 17 had a variety of skill levels and experience and we set out to make it work. As always finding a training day that worked for the entire team was impossible but we were lucky to only have two in the end who could make the night because of previous commitments. (Special mention here to the two who turned up each Saturday and did their best to quickly understand some tips and pointers before taking the field and giving it their best. Well done)

Training was a combination of hard work, hatred of the coach for extra jogs and sprints and a lot of fun. Most weeks everyone who wasn’t sick or away came and trained hard. I set about working on fitness and skills and to all the girls credit they did everything that was asked each and every time. There were plenty of good natured complaints at times but I think they realised halfway through the season they had suddenly got fit and this helped their soccer to no end.

With a new combined team working out who was best at what position was also a weekly exercise and I wanted each player to own one particular spot but have the versatility to also play elsewhere as required. We pretty much achieved this and a big thanks to the girls who readily took on the challenge of learning a new position as required.

Our fantastic goalkeeping started with Gemma K and Alannah and towards the end of the season Delilah stepped into the mix as well. As a Coach having three keen, competent and skilful goalkeepers to play a half match of soccer each week was great and all of them showed emotional maturity in dealing with the role which is sometimes really hard as goals are scored against you.

This year’s backs saw Mia, Taylor, Emily, Alannah and Gemma K generally playing in the same positions each week and they were a great group who brought confidence to our defence every week. Mia is new to soccer and her growth this season both with her ball skills, positional play and reading the game made her into a rock solid defender so big congrats. Taylor owned the centre back position and led the backs by example with solid defence week in and out. Taylor puts her body on the line often and really makes opposition forwards nervous. Emily also worked on skills and came along in leaps and bounds as this season went by and confidently defended our goals with great enthusiasm and joy. Emily gives everything on the field and owned the position. When not killing it in goals Gemma K enthusiastically defended in any position I asked her to, (including mids) always running and running and running, reading the play and shutting down opposition attacks when we needed it most. Alannah took to the new role of sweeper this year and really made the most of it by shutting down countless opposition attacks and turning the direction of play time and time again. Alannah has great ball skills and an ability to read the opposition so well it almost always put her in the right spot at exactly the right time.

Midfielders are soccer’s engine room and this year Amika, Addie, Sofie, Isla, Delilah and Gemma C were our regulars and gave it their all. Amika moved from the forwards early in the season and showed herself to be a strong midfielder. With great throw ins and confident ball skills she worked well with other players passing and moving the ball around the field. Addie brought her joyful attitude to the soccer field each week and developed herself throughout the season into a reliable player who was attacking girls much bigger than her and winning ball. Sophie is one of the players who just goes out on the field and gets into the game with enthusiasm and plays her centre mid position really well. She gives everything each week in the mids, sometimes to the point of collapse and was a pleasure to coach. Isla showed up each week with a focused determination to do well and improve. As one of the smallest on the filed she often ran at bigger opposition players to win ball and was always thinking about her position and where she should be passing. Delilah played most of the season in mids and was a solid, reliable centre who regularly won and pushed ball to the forwards. Towards the end of the season Delilah also played Goals as required and did a truly awesome job of it. Gemma C is one of those players who never stops moving and is involved in everything. Another one of the smallest on the field, Gemma C was not afraid to go at the opposition and often came away with the ball as a result.

Chloe, Tannah and Grace get a separate mention here because I moved them into various spots as required this season. Chloe is a midfielder at heart and shows her great balls skills each week and coming back to this position at the end of the season really worked for the team. Chloe was in forwards for a number of weeks and was able to adapt to the new position quickly and attack the opposition goals with some great runs. Tannah also played both mids and forwards and gave us a number of fantastic attacking hits on opposition players to win the ball and take control of the play and then moved to attack their goals. Grace was another player who jumped into mids and defence as required with confidence and a smile. Grace always went on the field and gave it her very best each and every week and would defend and attack with tenacity.

Forwards this year saw Noa, Charlotte and Sofia really settle in to the roles. Noa moved from the mids into forwards and really flourished. By the end of the season Noa realised how to manage that forwards pressure and expectation, and was often undertaking skilful attacking runs and confidently attacking the goals. She was our leading goal scorer for the year as a result and her development over the season was great to see. Charlotte moved from a number of years playing backs into forwards and has brought a keen motivation to learn and develop in the role. With some great powerful kicks Charlotte helped with corners and penalties. Sofia has shown a new level of ball control this year and loves playing forwards. Despite helping with mids during the seasons she finished playing up front in the finals and scored the equalising goal in the GF by following up the ball. Well done and well deserved.

Coaches Award
Choosing the award this year was very difficult and I had a number of players to narrow it down from. In my mind, the Coaches award is not just about who plays the best week after week, but it also includes things like always being at training and doing everything asked without complaint, being supportive and nice to teammates, developing skills and showing them during the game and of course giving a hundred percent on the field. Well done to the recipient this year.

Grand Final
We made the GF this year because it’s a confident, happy group of girls who all love playing soccer and who all tried really hard each and every week. Whilst it was a loss for us we can take lots of confidence from the 1-1 scoreline into next season knowing we held our own (in terrible wet conditions) and hopefully get another crack at it.

Manager Mention
Special mention to my wife Heidi, who managed the team this year and did a great job of keeping me and the girls organised and in line each and every week. We were silently hopeful that at least a couple would miss the game each week to make subs manageable but no, they all decided to turn up week after week and making six subs work throughout a game is really tough so thanks Heidi for looking after this headache and all the other bits and pieces every week.

Last Word
It was a pleasure to Coach the girls this season and I encourage them to all come back and play soccer again next year if they can. I have been lucky to of watched as each girl worked hard to develop their skills and work as part of a team and it’s a real credit to each one of them as to how far they have come.

Many thanks to the parents for entrusting me with the role of coach, and Heidi as manager. Big thanks for all those who put their hand up and helped with ground duty when we needed to. Thanks to all the supporters who turned up each and every week to cheer the girls on. Special mention to Matt who helped train at times and coached when I was away.

Yours in soccer,
Jon and Heidi.