Gladesville Ravens Sport Club

Also in this prestigious squad is Claudia Marshall from Paul Shields' 11/1 team plus Georgia Brown and Jess Weston from Michael Brown & Graeme Burke's 12/1's as well as Rhianna Whitlock from Fred Carollo & Paul Whitlock's 10/1's. Quite a line up and a strong Ravens presence.

Competition was tough during the rigorous trials that attracted the best players from all clubs in our association. But our girls proved themselves to be ahead of the pack with skill and determination to be selected to represent NWSWF. Well done ladies.

We had 16 girls on the roster, which made training interesting as I was blessed with a very high attendance record for training throughout the year. I could not have done it on my own, so Thank You to Craig Maggs for his valuable assistance throughout the year. I am sure the girls appreciated in suggestions, insight and team spirit, as did I.

Finally to the girls:

Genevieve was our number one goalie and played that role full time for us throughout the round robin and grand final at my request. Nearly everyone else played goalie throughout the year for half a game and all performed fantastically, even though they thought they would not be any good. Defensively, Gretel, Laura, Monique, Alli and Sammi where solid as a brick wall. Midfielders, Nicola, Charlotte, Paige, Georgia, Lydia, and Ella fought hard for the ball and passed it around to the best of their ability. Forwards, Tayla, Tiana, Anneke and Molly, along with the midfielders challenged every defensive line we came up against with great success. Most notable was their fighting spirit and never say die attitude, coming from behind on more then one occasion to completely dominate the opposition. Probably on those nights that sleep-overs happened.

The coaches from the U12 division 1 team also wanted me to thank you for your support of their team this year. The girls that subbed in for them across the season helped them in their journey to win the Grand Final and made for an exciting Grand Final day for both teams that I will never forget.

Thank you girls and parents for a wonderful season, certainly my best and hopefully yours so far. Thank you also for your patience as I rotated 16 girls through the games.

Wishing you all the best, see you soon,

Russell Field (Coach)

As a club we would like to provide opportunities for all girls, those who wish to achieve results and for those who are happy to participate and develop socially in a team environment. NWSWF association are now providing 2 competitions per age groups and we intend to use this framework to provide opportunities for all players.

To this end, we propose in 2009 to support the 2 competitions per age group in the following manner.

• One team with a focus on results, development, commitment, participation and social enjoyment the other
• A focus on participation, development and social enjoyment.

Age groups that will be considered are U11 through to U16 how ever U12, U14 & U16 will be the primary focus. I am hopeful that there will be sufficient interest in those age groups.

U9 & U10 Age Groups who still play on ¾ field are still considered social and in a skill development period therefore the grading of this age groups will not occur, however I would like any input by coaches and parents relating to returning players and new recruits for the 2009 season. If there is sufficient interest then we shall consider the option to evaluate the girls who are interested.

U8 age groups. There may be players that may benefit moving up an age group. Consideration will be given based on parent & coaches input.

We understand the 2008 small fields were very frustrating for the children who participated this season 2008. We have evaluated the situation and would encourage any children with developed ball skills, awareness of positioning and who are physically capable to move to the U9. We will look to the coaches and parents to recommend if whole team or individual players should move.

I would also like to stress this proposal is for the development of the girls and their needs and this must come first. The evaluation will only be for girls who wish to be evaluated and would appreciate the support of all coaches with a view to the bigger picture.

The girls that seeking a focus on results, development, commitment as a primary objective will have an opportunity to undergo evaluation in October. We will circulating nomination as soon as venue and dates are confirmed typically this will be Sundays in mid to late October 2008. They will run in parallel with Raven’s Women’s Super League evaluations.

For further information please contact me on 0408 440 698 or Chris Rudge on 0414 819 799

In late May, 2 coaches came on board, Brianna Matthews and Tony Jenkins who were then able to provide the skills necessary to make the games more competitive and provide the girls with positions and skills associated with those positions. The weather also improved and training was in full swing and the games were competitive and motivated.

It came too late in the season and we had great coaches and a dedicated team manager and a motivated team that enjoyed themselves and wanted to win. We made it into the Division 1 Section A draw as the bottom team and worked hard to keep all of our finals games to draws with the best teams in the division, only losing twice. The finals series were well fought and played games in which the girls had felt they had truly come into there own.

Even through the early season setbacks the girls always tried their best and should be very proud of themselves, especially where they ended up at the end of the season. This is a great achievement and congratulations to the girls and the coaches on providing a thoroughly enjoyable season for all concerned. The best on ground every week were the same girls and we would like to thank:

Isabelle Atkinson, Florence Basmajian, Lilli Borozan, Ruby Borozan, Sophie Clarke, Madeleine Hatton (Maddy), Eloise Jenkins, Kate Jenkins, Jacinta Kendall, Grace Matthews, Molly Matthews, Charlotte Stone and Victoria Taylor.

Ravens 23 will be back next year ready to compete from day one with enthusiasm and energy to take on the best!!!

Once again, we didn’t have a dedicated goalie. However, we found a few of the girls had a natural goalie instinct – that grit and feistiness that comes from not being scared to throw your body through the air only to land hard upon the ground. In particular, Stephanie, Emma and Sarah showed great confidence and natural ability and we thank them for volunteering in goals so often this year.

This year we had strength and pace across the park. Andi showed great skill and control, and was our star goal shooter. Alex and Maddie worked well together in the midfield, both shooting plenty of goals throughout the season. Jess was a stalwart in the fullbacks and ensured our opposition’s attacking plays were halted in their tracks.

With only one game left in the Championship Round, one of our players declared her cousin was a former Australian goalkeeper. Had he known that, our coach may have put her in goals during the season to see if that talent ran in the family!

Although they didn’t make it to the grand final this year, determination was written all over the faces of every player on the field during their final game – a draw with the top, undefeated team. I have no doubt they will be there in the grand final next season.

On a final note, our team has been very fortunate to have two incredibly talented coaches this year. Rob and Rob (Bobo) have been dedicated to this team and, on behalf of all players and parents, I thank them for teaching our girls so much about the wonderful team sport that is football. Our coaches have been ably assisted by some very dedicated fathers, and I also wish to thank Julius (Maddie’s dad), John (Pru’s dad) and Ken (Amanda’s dad) for assisting each week at training.

Ros Wagstaff
Manager

Runners up are
U17 div 1
U16 div 2
U15 div 2
U13 div 1
U10 div 1
U9 div 1

U12 have one more game to play to decide if the are runners up or become 3rd placed.
Our 3 under 9 teams have finished 1st 2nd & 3rd in comp of 11 teams.

We have 3 other teams in the semi finals as well, giving us a total of 13 teams in the round robin.

WSL

With three remaining games we have secured 1st grade and reserve grade into 3rd position on the ladder. 1st grade drew with competition leaders IIlawarra Stingrays to send a strong message that the competition grand final is up for grabs. The first minor semi will be held at Peel Park on 16th of August.

The Under 16 are fighting for 4 position and will need to win the remaining 3 games to have any chance. This is not an impossibility given they have beaten the top 2 teams in the comp just recently.

The Under 14 are now in 3rd position and cannot afford any losses in their march to the semi’s.

The Under 12 are in 5th place and are too far away from fourth position to have any chance of making it to the semi’s . they are one of the best improvers in the competition they just lack the size and strength will have a good base for next U12 team.

When you consider that Tennyson is a hand picked group, we looked especially good as a team. You girls are awesome and you should be proud of yourselves.

This week we meet Roselea who are well in the hunt for a spot in the grand final after they managed to draw with Epping and Tennyson in a sensational display of form over the past few weeks. Although we are out of the race, we have an excellent opportunity to finish the season with a great game under no pressure. Naturally, I’d love to chalk up a win, but I think it’s more important that we celebrate 2008 by playing “our game”. The result will look after itself. Lets go out and play a good open game using all the skills we have developed and with the hunger we felt in our last 2 games. Shut down attackers, win the ball, have confidence in your own ability, look for your team and take shots. Lets really enjoy ourselves this week.

Kickoff is 2:00 at Harold West, Carlingford.

The following week is Grand Finals. Even though we are not playing, GF day is a great day with tons of atmosphere and excitement. I’d encourage everyone to head down to Morrison Bay for a great day of soccer. The draw won’t be decided until after this weekend’s results come through so check the NWSWF website next week for details. I’ll be on the sidelines somewhere, especially for the 11/1 final. Rhianna’s 10/1 team is looking good for a GF spot so this would be a good game to catch and to cheer for our honourary team-mate.

See you at training.

CC