By far, one of our most successful seasons in recent times. The first team held its position in Women’s Central League and finished the season strong, the second team was promoted mid-season to Division 1 and finished in the top three of the division they were promoted into.
Upper Hutt City Football’s Youth and Junior teams travelled to Douglas Villa, Christchurch and Taupo for U11, U12, U13, U14, U15 and U19s tournaments and all performed well in their respective competitions. In Taupo, our U15s won the grade, almost taking out the U17s competition as well! Our U13s finished a respectable second place amongst strong opposition. For our junior females, the season is rapidly turning into a 12-month one with Mixed and Girls Only competitions now running throughout the year. Several of our girls opted to enter as All Girls teams in the 14th, 12th and 9th Grade mixed competition – more than holding their own. And a young U12s side competed well in the All Girls U14s Winter League. During the summer, our U17s, U14s and U8s have also made their mark in the Capital, all finishing Term 1 at the top of their grades.
Girls Development and UHCF training environments continue to contribute to help bridge the gap between grass roots and representative football, with 31 females selected this year to represent Capital Federation, attend National Talent Centres and even the wider U17s New Zealand Football Development Squad. Several female players now seek enhanced training environments and the numbers participating in the club’s in-house All Stars Academy steadily increased this year. All female training environments are now available from as young as four years old with the introduction of holiday workshops this year. This access to enhanced training and facilities has aided retention significantly this year, with no players leaving us – at this stage!
However, there is always something more to strive for and we are particularly focussed on increasing participation for players in the 10-11 and 18-25 age groups.
On the back of National Women’s League, which four of our senior players participated in, many of our U15s Football and U15s and Women’s Futsal players represented Capital Football in national age-group tournaments mid-December. An additional club U15s team was also invited by Capital Football to participate in the U15s National Futsal Tournament.
The outstanding results are testament to the commitment of our players and volunteers; in particular, the outstanding contribution from our 2013 Women’s and Girls’ Sub-Committee. Also to our coaches and officials, including several youth players, who are enjoying the development opportunities with UHCF.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of them for their tireless support and efforts to grow the game and create an enjoyable environment at UHCF for our females across the board.
2014 promises to be even more exciting, with the potential introduction of a third women’s team, all senior coaches and managers already in place and Wendi Henderson appointed to lead the way.
The new season can’t come quick enough! And if you, or anyone you know, wants to find our more about the opportunities available for female footballers at UHCF, please do drop me an email.
In the meantime, have a wonderful Christmas.
Lorraine Bowring
Women’s and Girls Club Captain
Upper Hutt City Football
Email: lorraine@upperhuttcityfootball.org.nz