Storm Clearing

For most of us, we started this journey a couple of years back with August kick-arounds at Lochside Park. We started the season off with victory at the Labour Day Tourney on the Turf where we battled against Lakehill, but I suppose our first official game as the Storm was a 1-1 draw against Gorge at Bullen Park.

I remember getting to the park late from Erin's game to find out we were already down 1-0 to the bad guys. Soon enough Olivia evened the scoring with a free kick and our first points were won. That season we enjoyed more success on the field than I imagined we would, but in hindsight given how well we've played this year I suppose it shouldn't have been a surprise after all. We had some ups and downs but we earned a reputation as a team who could pass the ball and was tough to beat.

This season was also a huge success, despite results not going our way the way we would have liked. There wasn't a single game in which we were comprehensively outplayed by the opposition. In fact some of the games we lost (JDF 0-2, PSC 2-3, Bays 0-1) I think it's fair to say we were the better team. Luck just didnt seem to smile on us this season. In between we finally got one over on Lakehill (5-0) and Peninsula (3-0), two teams that seemed to have the hex over us. Both were sweet, but I'll probably remember the latter longer because it confirmed that on our day we could beat anyone. Now, if only the crossbars were round instead of square at JDF, we would have got the win against them too :-)

We also had the privilege of playing on the nicest turf field in the city. Spoiled doesn't begin to describe what we've become after practicing and playing games on that since November. Did any parents actually have to wash tehir daughter's jersey? I guess the downside was everyone had puddles of back rubber on their linoleum!

It's been a lot of fun for me coaching and getting to know each of you. I hope you enjoyed yourself and learned something along the way. Some of you will be off to pastures new next season and I wish you the best of luck on your ventures. I'm sure our paths will cross again on the field somewhere soon enough. To Lily and Olivia best of luck on your travels with the Super Y team.

A big thanks to Rob and Willie for all your help and laughs we shared, and to Derek and Josh for running the lines during many of our games. Much appreciated.

Thanks also to parents for their support for me and their child's soccer development. Attendance at practices and games was always excellent and the girls behaviour was good from start to finish.

Take care and enjoy your spring and summer!