After the top two teams in the Outer East U15 Girls Football League had a neck and neck season, Healesville finally confirmed the premiership.
It’s the third premiership in a row for the Healesville girls.
Coach Shane Newsome said it’s a massive feat for the Healesville Junior Football Club and the girls.
“It was an incredible journey with the girls. They demonstrated tremendous teamwork, skills and determination,” he said.
“It was a real honour to reach our third premiership.”
To build strong team chemistry, Newsome’s focus was to create a safe and fun environment where everyone felt comfortable and was willing to express themselves on the field.
“We respect each other to start with. Everyone comes from different backgrounds, different cultures, and I think we all go to probably eight different high schools around the area, so respect is a big thing,” he said.
“We challenge ourselves, but at the same time, there’s no malice. We’re always trying to help each other to improve our skill set, our fundamentals.
“And then there’s just the easy thing of having fun, creating drills that are fun, inviting, creative and then also the injection of some music at training and game day.”
Both Healesville and Mount Evelyn finished the regular home and away season with 13 wins and one loss.
Only the points differential separated the two sides, and Healesville U15 Girls was placed at the top of the ladder at the end of the home and away season.
Throughout the season, Newsome didn’t put pressure on the girls with a game plan and tactics, rather, he encouraged the girls to be creative.
“We do some small game sense of tactics, mainly around the centre bounce, and then we just sort of let the girls play,” the coach said.
“We like to play an open brand of football where we can bring players into the game by just running and handballing.
“They just get to go out there and enjoy themselves and have fun. So there’s a little bit of structure, but not too much.”
During the finals, Healesville girls took on their season rival, Mount Evelyn, twice to lift the premiership flag.
In the grand final, Mount Evelyn started the game by pushing Healesville strongly, kicking two goals within three minutes.
“We found ourselves behind on the scoreboard very quickly, but the best thing about that was there was still a fair bit of game time to go, so we sort of knuckled down, got a little bit more balance around stoppages,” the coach said.
“I told the girls to always remain positive, trust in our teammates, play every moment, don’t forecast, and stay where your feet are.
“We were able to kick back a couple of goals, and by about halftime, we were eight points in front. And we kept Mount Evelyn pretty much scoreless after halftime.”
Healesville beat its season rival, Mount Evelyn, 5.10.40 to 2.2.14.
