The shrill sound of the last full-time whistle of winter may have long receded into the rain-soaked days of late July, but the memory of the W10 C-1s’ mighty season is still spreading a broad smile across the face of this particular coach.

This group has grown so much over the past two seasons, and the two new players who joined us in 2025 – Olivia and Isla – integrated into the team beautifully, as we jumped up two divisions and moved to the next field size up.

Over the 16 weeks of a truncated season, the girls showed incredible improvement as a team – a testament to their love of the game, their willingness to learn and work hard in training and their support of each other. On the pitch these girls are resilient, running hard until the final minute. They don’t give up, no matter the scoreline, competing until the final whistle blows. They play hard, but they play to their strengths. Most importantly, they play fair, congratulating their opponents, thanking the supporters and always sticking around to shake hands and have a chat.

We also found time for a little bit of fun along the way.

From post-training group dinners with the other Cs team, to our annual Easter training Egg-hunt, an intense laser tag outing and of course, an enchanting evening of fancy dress in which dads became princesses for a special end-of-season clash with the girls, this was a season for the ages on and off the pitch. Coaching becomes a little easier when the girls all love playing the game so much.

A huge thank you to the families, not only for all your efforts in getting the girls to and from games and training, but for turning up in numbers every Saturday morning to cheer on the team. I believe this group is much more than just a team and nowhere is that more evident than the sidelines on a matchday morning, where the channels that border the field become a wonderful melting pot of parents, grandparents, picnic rugs, pets and family friends.

It goes without saying, the season would not have been as fun, nor as successful without the hard work of our wonderful manager, Jo – the only person I’ve ever seen get her name permanently printed on every match sheet. From producing magnets with each player’s face for my coaching board, to organising team dinners, social events and running a special gymnastic-themed training session, Jo has kept the team running like a well-oiled machine off the pitch and has lent a patient ear to my, at times, obsessive ramblings about tactics, formations and training drills. So thank you, Jo!

This season may have been abruptly ended by inclement weather – much to the disappointment of all – but thankfully it wasn’t defined by the grey skies that bookended it.

Far from it.

On behalf of Jo and I, thank you to all for a wonderful 2025 season.