2022 Premier League Cup Captains - Hiba Karim and Octavio Montalvo

Our new-look leadership team for 2022 will have two outstanding individuals at the helm. At the conclusion of the 2021 Premier League Cup campaign, we asked our current leadership team for their anonymous recommendations for a girls and boys captain respectively. The results were unanimous and mirrored what we felt as coaches: Year 10 goalkeeper Hiba Karim and Year 11 midfielder Octavio Montalvo will lead our program for the remainder of 2021 and the entirety of 2022.

In the case of Octavio, he is no stranger to leadership positions at the school. In 2020, he captained a group of boys that traveled to Spain to compete in an international tournament. During this trip, he took on a higher level of responsibility that helped form a much more mature version than the boy that flew out to Spain. 

He spend 2021 challenging himself to play senior men's football at State League 3 side Fawkner, where he battled through the physicality, the speed, and the experience of playing against men. It was an eye-opening experience for Octavio, but he managed to score goals, create goals and develop some football street smarts and nous as a 16-year old that helped him take another step in the right direction both as a player and as a person. 

The senior environment is a far different experience for a young player that has yet to make a name for himself, and Octavio impressed all of the players and staff at Fawkner with his dedication to seeking feedback for his training and match performances and accepting criticism in the game in order to serve the best interests of the club. 

In many ways, the development of Hiba Karim has also been in an unusual place for a 16-year old girl. Without playing club junior football until 2019, Hiba found herself playing State League One senior women football at the St. Albans Saints in 2021. In this space, she played in the toughest position on the field for a young player - goalkeeper - in a newly promoted team that was finding its feet in a higher division after not playing at all in 2020. 

What it meant for the efervescent Hiba was literally growing up on the job and facing lots of shots, crosses and 1v1s in a challenging season for the team. On many occasions she produced several top shelf saves to keep her team in the game and also made several glaring mistakes that are to be expected of someone so young playing with grown women. The key in her approach to this weekly challenge against stronger opponents was to remain positive and take each game as a learning opportunity. 

As a goalkeeper, she also has the advantage of having a whole pitch view from behind the ball, which will no doubt allow her to bark instructions as she grows as a person and a player. 

In the coming weeks, Hiba and Octavio will name their leadership team that will take our program forward in the immediate future, and we look forward to watching them flourish in their new roles.