By Dongyun Kwon
Healesville Junior Football Club (HJFC) U14 Girls brought one more trophy to the club on Sunday 11 August.
The team won the premiership two years in a row.
Although the coach Shane Newsome is happy with the result of winning the premiership, he said winning is not everything in sports.
“I would definitely consider our season to be a successful one, but as a coach, I don’t base success purely on the wins and losses,” he said.
“It’s great to win, but to watch the girls develop their fundamentals throughout the year and more importantly create some great friendships and memories together is what it is all about.”
Despite the great success last year, Newsome didn’t let his guard down because he knew past success doesn’t guarantee future success.
The coach said he discussed the goals for the season with the team, and the team set small milestones each week to keep themselves moving forward.
“I asked the team what they wanted to focus on and what they wanted to stand for, and the girls said they wanted to be competitive, hard-working, good sports and respectful,” Newsome said.
“Then we would break them down and the girls would offer their suggestions. The girls worked on themselves as much as they did on their game.
“We would set small milestones each week. Round 1, starting the season with a win, round 2, winning an away game, round 3, not losing at home.”
Following the milestones of each week, the girls could keep themselves motivated during the whole season and ended up finishing up the season invincible.
“To go undefeated for the year was never a goal of ours, but to ‘stay where our feet are’ was,” Newsome said.
The team faced some adversities over the season but they learnt from them rather than just got frustrated.
Newsome said one of the challenges was dealing with injuries.
“We had a few injuries throughout the year, which gave the girls a sense of perspective and the knowledge that you never actually know when it would be your last time you are either playing, training or just hanging with your friends,” he said.
“With that, the girls were able to enjoy and cherish every moment together as if it was their last.
“We had a close win against Mount Evelyn which was somewhat controversial. It was great for the team to come so close to a loss, as you can learn so much more from a loss than you can from a victory.”
HJFC U14 Girls defeated Upwey Tecoma in the semi-final with a score of 44:8 and Wesburn in the grand final with a score of 40:6.
“The girls were enthusiastic all year, the love and the care they show for each other was a major contributor to our successful season,” Newsome said.
“I know that our coaching staff felt very blessed to be involved with the team and to be able to create some memories with them all.”
