All smiles at CCFC
It was only in 2014 when an U-12 girls team was announced at Collingwood City Football Club. We only had 3 girls registered to play at the beginning and scrambled to make a team - two of those three originals are still playing with us. Coach Jack Iacono was with them from the outset. The girls were thrown in the deep-end at a tournament, most of them had never so much as kicked a football! They were put on a full-size pitch, against bigger more established clubs, and without even a dedicated goalie. For most teams, the loss would have been devastating, but for the team, they were all philosophical and everyone agreed this was going to be great fun. Despite the loss, the girls loved it.
The first season was all about learning the games, the skills and the strategy. Our coaching staff at the club have been simply awesome, instilling all those things in our girls, Jack's work was brilliant. We improved enormously across the 2015 season, with some great runs of play. Early on there was a struggle to put it in the back of the net, and the final whistle saw so many frustrating 0-0 draws! The fact that others couldn't often score against us an indication of our fantastic defensive line-up. In 2015 Biggin and Scott of Richmond sponsored our team, complete with logo on the strip and in 2016 we managed to rope in their famous flat-capped auctioneer as our team manager, who keeps us all updated with hilarious emails and words of encouragement.
The girls are travelling strongly now, second on the table after 7 rounds coming from humble beginnings just 2 years ago! The most important thing is our girls love to play, to be on the pitch, and work as a team. With the addition of the lights to Kevin Bartlett Reserve, CCFC is looking to set up a Senior and Reserve women's team in order to give all our girls teams a place within the club to progress to!
