2005 Girls Under 13 White
Coach : Mike Clahsen
Manager : Anthony Weate
Most Valuable Player (Joint Winners) : Callena Brenchley & Emily Sproule
Congratulations to all 15 girls on a terrific year! Sure you only won three games all season long but you certainly know how to have a great time - win, lose or draw! There are a lot of adult sporting teams that could learn a lot from you especially on how to have a good time regardless of the result.
I was also particularly proud at how well you conducted yourselves throughout the season. You always showed the utmost respect for me, Anthony, your opposition, the officials and each other - well done!
Our goals for the season were to have fun, play with dignity and learn more about the game at the same time. We covered a lot of things during the season which I hope you can recall and improve upon in seasons to come - set plays such as corners, goal kicks and throw-ins; terms such as "and again", "jockey" and "nutmeg"!; defending free kicks with a wall; "step over" and "dummy" moves; goal shooting (for the corners and not right at the keeper) were just some of the skills covered during the season.
A big thank-you to the Management Inc. (alias Anthony Weate) for taking on the managing role and doing a terrific job of it. It was a pleasure being able to just concentrate on the coaching side of things knowing that the administrative side of things were always well and truly under control - thank-you again Anthony!
The biggest obstacle faced by coaches of junior teams is interfering parents and I am happy to say that my experience with this team was the exact opposite - nothing but 100% support and for that I am most thankful - thank-you parents! I must also compliment you on what fine young women you have raised - a real pleasure to coach.
Kate - very quite all season until the last couple of games when she went in goals and showed us she has reflexes like a cat! Kept us in the game against some of the strongest teams in the competition. Way to go Kate!
Callena - terrific natural sweeper - always backing-up the fullbacks and not just retrieving the ball but knocking the ball way back up the field with long clearing kicks out of the danger zone.
Emily - great first season - a natural stopper with one of the strongest kicks in the team and a good back-up sweeper for Callena. Had to endure one of the most unfair decisions I have ever witnessed on a sporting field but handled it with tremendous dignity well beyond her years - well done Emily!
Marnie - one of the big improvers in the team. Frustrating to watch early on in midfield when everying thing that came her way was kicked straight back up the field. Absolute pleasure to watch in the second half of the season when she learned to control the ball first then knock it to one of our players - great stuff Marnie!
Elouise - wonderful to watch in full flight on the wing after knocking the ball past a defender and out running any defender in the competition. One of the highlights of the year was watching her tear apart The Gap - a big reason for our first win of the season!
Sean - years of playing with the boys showed in Sean's great skills and "feel" for the game which only comes with playing a lot of football. Always willing to put on the goalie shirt when we needed it - great team player!
Ellia - not too many more determined than Ellia. One of the fittest in the team that would run all day.
Bronte - only natural left-footer in the team and "owned" the left fullback position. A pleasure to coach and did very well in her first year.
T'Liah - another first-timer who noticeably improved as the season progressed. A strong tackler who wasn't afraid to go in hard after the ball.
Willow - it's only natural to list Willow alongside Bronte and T'Liah - the best of buddies who were inseparable all year! Willow loves the striker role and excelled in this position due to her above-average speed.
Margo - deceptively quick and a pleasure to watch in full flight heading towards goal. Scored some of our finest goals - well done Margo!
Grace - the nice thing about coaching kids is the sudden bursts of improvement that can be witnessed and Gracie was one of those - stronger tackling and a much stronger kick in the second half of the season. Grace's sharp wit was another highlight of 2005!
Xanthe - great to watch Xanthe in her second season develop "on the ball" skills that usually take several season to attain. Also a highlight was one of the most impressive one-on-one marking displays late in the season in the stopper role.
Melanie - a natural defender with the ability to tackle hard. Also demonstrated some of the most creative skills in getting the ball under control with use of her backside!
Ashley - one of the few players in the team not frightened to try different positions on the field to the extent that she not only played every single position on the field, including goalie, but all of them very well - great stuff Ash!