The 2021 season started so well, but little did we know once again our season would be cut short due to COVID.

We had a great half a season with all our teams doing really well. It would have been great to make it to finals as so many of us were in stella positions for the final sprint home, 7 out of our 9 teams in contention to make it to finals, but alas it was not to be. Read on for the Women’s Section season wrap from each of our teams.

Premier League

The Camberwell Premier League Women’s team in 2021 had a really pleasing season albeit a shortened one interrupted on numerous occasions from covid issues. Despite the ongoing challenge for all players and team management of restarting the programme many times it was quite remarkable how the group coped and made the best of a very difficult situation

We saw incredible determination from all to remain committed to the team goals of improving physically and tactically and developing a special team spirit. I would commend all players for really committing to the cause and hopefully the progress made makes for an exciting next few year for this group

Key Highlights:

The team spirit which grew from the early season pre season camp at Gemma Coenens in Sorrento in Feb to the highlight in July where we knocked off a higher rated team in Southern with some desperate defence late in the game. With the momentum we were starting to build finals were a definite possibility and it was quite clear over the year a genuine care and connection had developed in a group which really didn’t know each other that well at the start.

The contribution from new players in Beth Lyon (Wav) and Sarah Adam (NZ) and an emerging group of youngsters in Matisse Daniel, Sierra Lee, Brigid Watson, Jayde Temby and Ally Wansbrough helped cover the loss of Sarah Chancellor Goddard to a nasty shoulder injury. Caitlyn Smith stood down after the first few rounds in goal for personal reasons and the big hole she left provided Jayde an opportunity to step up and announce herself to the Premier league competition which she did in style most notably in the Southern game.

Just as pleasing was the contribution of long standing prem league campaigners in Liv Bell, Sarah Darling, Sarah Forsyth and Gemma Coenen as well as the welcome return of gun striker Claire Obrien. Ruby Phillips and Millie Faulkes had strong seasons in defence and came to every session with the attitude to make the most of every minute to get better—and it showed. Jess Snaize and Eryn Norie also were an important part of the Premier League squad and were unlucky not to play more games but played some good hockey when the opportunities did arise. The leadership of Bridget Pledge and Sam Daly was outstanding with both selfless team players and excellent role models.

Finally a big thank you to our Captain Krissy Bates who really was quite inspirational both on the field with her brilliant hockey but also her always positive encouragement and support to all.

Areas we will look to continue to improve in 2022 include our:

· Physical capability so we become one of the fittest teams in the comp

· Goal scoring options so we don’t need to rely on Beth quite so much

· Social activities which weren’t possible in the last 18 months

· Connection and development with our reserves team so we have more depth coming through

Sam Daly and Jess Snaize we wish you the best of luck as you re locate to Albury next year and whilst you won’t be donning the tangerine next year you will be with us in spirit. Thank you for your incredible contributions this year and we look forward to seeing you back at Matlock one day soon.

Finally, I would take the opportunity to thank the support staff from Geoff Perriman as Assistant Coach - quite superb in his calm, care and attention to detail and Molly Pledge who had the difficult task of organising the logistics and admin. Great support and a big thankyou goes out to Prep Physio’s Meagan Davis, her re-ab expertise helped get our girls back on track as soon as they were right, and her work/expertise on Saturdays especially the day of Seeg’s injury was excellent. Thank you to James Mcgeoch for all the fitness work he did with our team before during and post season and to Sara Conyers and the committee for their excellent support.

David Wansbrough & Geoff Perriman

Premier League Reserves

2021 was a year of change for the WPLR team. We welcomed 4 new players to the club (Alice Johnston, Ellie Patterson, Ellie Brooks, Lulu Stansby) and we had 11 players debut in the grade. The squad also contained 8 inside forwards so we'd like to thank all those players for their preparedness to play in and learn new positions during the course of the season.

We had 5 wins, 3 draws and only 2 losses in the 10 games this season, sitting a single point outside the top 4 when things came to a halt. Although we weren't focussed on the ladder, we were in a great position for a legitimate shot the top 4 given the remaining draw.

Our attitude on the field was exemplary. Not a single green card or yellow card was issued for the entire season, and not a single word of complaint about an umpiring decision was heard. The team focused on the things they could control and reaped the benefits of that approach. Defensive performance is a great reflection of attitude, and we demonstrated that by not conceding a field goal at home all year, and only conceding field goals in 2 matches all year. It seems the Hawthorn/TEM field was our Achilles heel this year, with 60% of the goals we conceded happening in the 2 games we played there!!

Highlights for the year were the win at Footscray and the tough fought draw at Southern in our last game. Both these matches demonstrated grit and determination for the entirety of the game. We also enjoyed a couple of big home wins that could have blown out with a bit more luck in front of goal!

To the team, we'd like to thank you all for your fantastic attitude and willingness to listen and learn. We worked hard on playing with structure and doing unrecognised work creating opportunities for others, and made great progress on those goals through the year. To our experienced players, thanks for your leadership, your encouragement and your constructive support. To all the players balancing school hockey and juniors hockey, thanks for turning up and giving everything to the team despite the mental and physical fatigue resulting from that extended program.. Finally, many thanks the Chris Mortensen for putting his hand up and helping manage the team – this was greatly appreciated.

This was a great year of development, setting things up for a very bright future.

Bill Webb & Pip Mann

Pennant A

What a season we nearly had for our Women’s Pennant A team. At the start of the season, we sat down as a group and set team goals and team values. We were well on track to achieving our goals and our team values drove us each as we took the field. Our values were to be Brave (taking risks, building confidence, ok to make mistakes, creating safe, learning environments); to be Inclusive (respect individual differences and value all members of the team equally); and Strive for Success (work ethic, challenge the status quo, set standards and make every effort to achieve them).

We finished 3rd on the ladder after 10 games with some great wins, and some very frustrating draws! Our defensive effort was best in the comp letting in only 9 goals all season – 4 of them in one match. We will continue to work on our attacking game for next year.

We welcomed 4 juniors in their debut season with seniors, some new players to the club and welcomed back some old faces. As a team we found our inner Grrrr as the season progressed, none more so than in our game against Waverley. We can only imagine what some teams thought as we tapped into our inner tiger before each game.

As coaches it was wonderful to watch the group grow as a team on and off the field. New friendships were formed, and players confidence blossomed, and although we didn’t get to finish off the season how we would have liked, we are so proud of the group. It’s never easy playing and coaching at the same time and we thank all the girls for buying in to our vision for the team and making our role as coaches so enjoyable.

Narelle Richardson & Suzanne Henderson

Pennant B

After 2020 season was cancelled, 2021 season started with strong pre season in February along with practice matches to build the team for the season ahead.

The season started on 18th April after a snap lockdown, Pennant B had a solid 2-0 win to start the season and from that first game the team had went through the season as the only undefeated team in the competition with 8 wins and 2 draws.

The highlight would be the top of ladder clash against TEM in which we won 1-0, a game which would determine who goes up on top of ladder and also being the strong team in the comp. Throughout the season we had 28 players play Pennant B, including numerous juniors who had played their first season in a senior team.

The team were looking strong and confident heading into finals, playing some great hockey and sadly with another lockdown in August that had ended the 2021 season, we finished top of ladder. Well done to all involved.

Highlights of the season include:

8 wins and 2 draws 0 loss
Scored 20 goals and conceded 8
Played and defeated TEM in mini grand final/top of ladder clash before lockdown
Finished the season top of ladder
Numbers of juniors started playing their first year of seniors

Alex Wong & Matt Porritt

Pennant D

A year full of triumphs and the promise of more snatched away in the blink of an eye. From the get-go it was apparent to the coaches that we had a strong team on our hands but it wasn’t until we took the pitch on the 17th of April that our suspicions were confirmed, this team was awesome. Rocking off huge victories in our first two games it appeared that we had found our (very high) ceiling early and the only challenge was keeping our level of play there for a full season.

As the year progressed, however, we discovered that this team developed every round not only as individuals but as a group. The top of the ladder remained ours and only ours the entire way through but that does not mean we did not find trouble along the way. An unfortunate decision put a solitary L next to our name and the week after we found competition in an organised Footscray uniform. This only gave us something to strive towards and the girls went right back to their old ways of rattling off victories in emphatic form.

Every week we piled on goals and all year only saw 4 go in the other way. The success itself was fun but I can’t say enough about the crew we had. It’s devastating to dominate a competition the way these girls did and receive no recognition of it but we’ll always know that in 2021 pennant D slayed the day.

Ollie Bell & Sam Balson

Pennant F

To begin with it is only right to mention the massive preseason effort the PenF girls put in. Smashing out fitness every week it was the plan to make our debut in the pennant F competition a good one! By the time the season finally began there was equal parts anticipation and excitement for what this new grade had to offer. With a few unavailability’s and some unfortunate opposition stacking we had a slow start with two straight losses against Southern and Casey. However, after settling into positions and the team structure the points started to roll in, finishing the season at 5th place in a tight battle for finals with 5 wins, 1 draw and 4 losses. To best capture the season here are the highlights:

Sunday the 2nd of May: A sunny afternoon down at Matlock with a wall full of supporters (equal to any MPL game in my opinion) and the smell of a win was in the air. Yarra had no idea what was about to hit them, a 5-0 win that will go down in the history books. The winds changed after this win and the girls were gaining skills and confidence. 7-0, 5-0 and 1-1 were the scores to follow before the big showdown.

Saturday 26th of June: Taking on an undefeated team in a new grade isn’t something we see often but if anyone could do it, WPF could! Playing in a similar style to the Hockeyroos, they fought from the first whistle until the last winning 2-1 with the two goals literally 65 minutes apart! This game really sums up the team as a unit, striving to improve and push their limits.

With the majority of the team never having played a pennant game to then being in contention for finals really is a huge accomplishment and I’m sure they’ll get us to Pennant E in no time! Whilst the season may have been cut short and with it our hopes of a flag, this group should be incredibly proud of themselves with the individual improvement almost as evident as the increased strength as a unit and most importantly, doing it all with a smile on their face!

Ruby Webb

Metro

Metro B - the repository for developing talent - had what we'll call a character-building season. Never played hockey before, or coming back after 30 years? This was the team for you! Led by our fearless coach Jibril, with a cameo by his brother Koshin at the abrupt and unexpected end to the season, all players improved noticeably during the abbreviated season.

With the trajectory we were on, we would have been notching up wins had the season continued as planned. As it was, the Metro B gals had scored only one goal for the season in the lead up to our last game, but not for lack of trying. We suffered a few heavy losses, but always managed to remain in good spirits and support each other. We celebrated a draw, which felt like a victory indeed.

Then, all our resilience and determination paid off with our first victory, beating La Trobe 4-1, our fortunes finally turning around. Unfortunately, with lockdown 6, that turned out to be our last game of the season, but at least we finished on a high. Special thanks to our coaches, Jibril and Koshin, and a few Masters players who kindly filled in for us when we were short, and certainly lifted the team with their skill and experience. Hope to see everyone back again next season.

Julie Miller

Masters +35

Possibly the happiest team on the pitch in 2021…and all without winning a game until the final round played!

We weren’t sure if there was something wrong with the scoreboard at most of the matches. We had great skills on the pitch, awesome passages of play, significant attacks and the most solid defence between Jo and Linda…but we just seemed to get quite a smashing on the scoreboard for the first part of the season. (You know, like 7-0 against Mentone…but, in our defence, they have won the last few years!) But thankfully it wasn’t the on the pitch type smashing, where your heads hang low as you’re constantly in defence or trudging your way back to the halfway line following ‘another goal’…games were relatively even, we had lots of the play, but we just couldn’t score a goal and instead just allowed the opposition to rack ‘em up!

We finally found our mojo halfway through the season with a very close 2-1 loss to Melbourne Uni. It was a hard fought game, where we had about 70% of the play but, as mentioned earlier, competing against a faulty scoreboard! When we matched against them a second time, for a home game at Matlock, we at least managed a draw…but this time we had the umpire against us who disallowed a perfectly fine shot on goal (and would’ve meant our first win of the season). Needless to say, we took that to the pitch for the following game (and ultimately the last game), earning a well deserved win to finish the short season on a high.

What a great bunch of Masters to enjoy an unsuccessful season with. Memorable moments include: Tan’s party bus with snacks to get across to Werribee for an early game; Amanda’s first effort in front of goals with some classy saves in gear twice as big as her; Jac bringing the beers to round 1 (establishing the social element of Masters hockey); Cara’s first goal in her first season (celebrated in style); and Charlotte’s arrival to the 8pm game…at 9pm (we’ve all been there!) And the best part – we enjoyed losing so much we are coming back to ‘lose less’ in summer Masters!!

Suz Cannell

Masters +45

For the first time possibly ever, the women’s masters competition was split into age group instead of A division and B division. This allowed the Camberwell originals to play together once again in the newly established 45+ competition…and aptly labelled themselves the AZs!! How appropriate for the times!

It is rumoured that Lockdown 6 was only introduced to thwart Camberwell's Golden Girls from going through the season undefeated. Some people will go to any lengths to spoil our fun and to think what they have missed out on......

Marieke's relentless pace towards goal
Corinne's dancing at the top of the circle to receive the ball
Janie's fear of travelling to Greensborough
Julie's winter hat collection
Kath's determination to dodge that last defender
Des hunting on the posts for the deflection
Lynda's versatility from attack to defence
Lou's forwardline/backline dominance
Sally's occasional appearance - with cake but no knife
Rell's running up and back to save us on several occasions
Jo's adventures with the Victorian real estate market
Trish's expertise with Google Maps - Greensborough to Mentone
Karen's night driving skills - Musk to anywhere
Belinda's disregard for any opposing attacker
Alison's determination to stick with us and hockey
Heidie's incredible goalkeeping - 'how did she get that one'.
And then there was Suz who rounds us all up and points us to the right ground - thank goodness.

So where is our Premiership Flag? Surely those who were undefeated, on top of the ladder by a mile and obviously the best team in the competition should be rightfully rewarded ........ Or is this a sign that they want us all back again next year after a summer season warm up?!.

Janie Davey

2021 Season Wrap - Women's Section