Girls Football at GEC

GEC Girls Footy 2017 Series

In the year of the inaugural AFL-W season, GEC decided to host a series of Girls Football matches, rather than our regular one-game showcase. We are proud of the emerging talent that walks among us in relative obscurity. So why do we need to showcase girls football? To show to our school community that there are girls here that are just as good as the boys in sport - if not even better. To show girls that they can do it do, to try something new and take a positive risk to get involved. And to be recognised and celebrated for their Greatness, Excellence and Commitment. As unfortunately, this is not always the case with girls sport in real life and this needs to change. Take a look at the soccer, for instance. There has been a lot of recent attention on our national men's team, the Socceroos, and their 'Road to Russia'. But what about our women's team? While our blokes' current FIFA ranking is 39th, with their best result in a World Cup a Round of 16 in 2006, our Matildas are currently ranked 6th in the world, have had more World Cup appearances than the blokes, made it to the Quarterfinals 3 times, are 3 times Oceania Cup winners and won the Asian Cup 5 years before the Socceroos did. Clearly here we have a case of the girls doing better than the boys and it not being as widely recognised or celebrated as it should. Our girls deserve better. And it starts here, at the grassroots level.

 

Game 1 was held on 18th September. With AFL fans caught up in September fever - and the Tiger Army dreaming of breaking the 37-year drought - GEC Girls Footy fans spilled out through the driveway to Glen Huntly Oval to watch the GEC Red Team take on the GEC Black Team. The atmosphere was as electric as a final at the MCG and not just due to the storm-clouds brewing overhead. Mr Dalton had some words of wisdom for the GEC Red Team, while Mr Mulligan drew on the emotion of this being one of the last times that GEC great, Charlotte Skinner, would lace up the boots in a GEC uniform. The first quarter set off at a ferocious pace. Central umpire, Mr Coghlan found it hard to keep up with the pace. Luise Verhoeven was a stalwart in defence for the GEC Reds, while Charlotte Skinner and Tess Keogh were all around the ball in the middle for the GEC Blacks. Amy-Lee Sobotka has a lot of the ball early for the GEC Reds, as did Jay Scott. Alice Hornby for the Reds had a tough ruck contest with new up-and-coming ruck talent, Phoebe Clarke. With the scores almost level at half time, the wind-speed and leg-speed factor proved to be a huge difference in the second half. Runcha Jiva-Anan, Charlotte Skinner and Tess Keogh dominated for the GEC Black team and piled on the goals. As lightning struck away in the distance, poor Mr Dalton was blown away by the thunderous GEC Black victory.

Mr Dalton did some fast talking, wheeling and dealing in the mid-season prior to Game 2 on the 20th of October. His coup netted the number one ruck in the competition, Phoebe Clarke, and arguably the second best midfielder in Tess Keogh. With Tess and Phoebe swapping their Black jerseys for Red ones, Mr Mulligan's GEC Black team was staring down the barrel of a decisive defeat and was in desperate need of defensive players. With Mr Dalton stacking the Reds as an attacking side, Mr Mulligan had negotiated a deal with the best defender in the league, Luise Verhoeven. With Luise in the backline for the Black team, the playing field seemed slightly levelled. The game started with Charlotte winning the toss and choosing to kick into the wind in the first half. Phoebe and Tess proved to be excellent trades for Mr Dalton, easily winning centre clearances and delivering it forward to Amy-Lee, Mekkhala and Ysabelle. Charlotte and her team had their work cut out for them. With Luise and Hayley strong in defence and Zoe Markopoulos helping across centre-half back and around the ball with Charlotte, the contest tightened up. Tess Keogh kicked not only the goal of the day, but the goal of the series. A Super Goal from the back line sailed through the goal posts and it seemed an ominous sign. Mr Dalton called for an early siren, but central umpire, the ever-professional Mr Golding, was well in control of the game and kept up with the pace. With great decision-making, allowing for a free flowing game, Charlotte, Runcha and Zoe were able to wrestle the ball away from the Reds and started to kick home in the second half. Not even the sibling rivalry of Bridie Skinner trying to take down her big sister Charlotte could stop the late charge of the Black team. With the wind both at their backs and in their sails, the GEC Black team romped home victorious. They took the series 2-nil.

 

Congratulations to Charlotte Skinner, Runcha Jiva-Anan, Cynthia Dunkley, Alice Hornby, Marissa Putri, Tristan Vienna and Zoe Benier, who all hang up the boots for GEC on account of being in Year 12. Thank you for your contributions to GEC Girls football over the years and we would love to see Charlotte Skinner try out for the AFL-W at some stage. Watch this space!! These girls can retire proudly knowing that they have passed the touch on to a new breed of younger players who embody the Grit, Enthusiasm and Commitment shown by the Year 12s. With Year 7s like Phoebe, Tess, Sasha and Ashleigh getting involved, along with the host of other students across Year 8 to 11 (Sasha, Lilly, Maayan, Sierra, Alannah, Emma, Sammy, Niomi, Aurelie, Liza, Grace and all of those mentioned) girls football at GEC will continue to celebrated and something to be proud of.

 

Here's hoping that we will be able to put our talents to the test in the Beachside Interschool Competition during 2018...

 

Tori Mulligan

Teaching and Learning Leader