Our team performed well above the expectations that we had at the start of the season. It was the first time most of these boys had played together and it was difficult to pull the numbers together to make a team initially. Eventually the boys were able to grab some mates from other sports and put together a full team.

It was a steep learning curve for many of us! A bunch of rookie coaches and managers that were all parents of players, many boys that had never played soccer before and a team that have never played together. What could go wrong?!

We started the season strongly with a win first up. Throughout the season we only lost a handful of games and ended third on the ladder. We were unlucky in many games not to have beaten the leaders and were never defeated easily. There’s no denying we lacked some skill in finishing at times but this certainly improved throughout the season. What always seems like a thankless task we were defensively strong every week which kept us in the hunt. One thing as coaches we tried to instill in the boys was effort both on and off the ball and they delivered in this area more and more consistently as the season went on.

Most of all this bunch of young men showed so much respect to all coaches, managers and other teams. They played with heart and dignity and if there was a grand final for sportsmanship, our team would have been the victors.

Unfortunately, we went down in the first round of the finals in a very tight game that went to extra time. We held our composure well against teams that didn’t always show the same respect and for this we were extremely proud of all our players.

It was such a fun year for all involved. Us coaches in our rookie year were able to share the load and enjoyed the whole season. There were a lot of laughs and good times a long the way with many strong friendships formed. We look forward to these boys developing even further next year!