U12 Girls Match Report

Round 1

A solid start to the season is all I can say about today's performance. Everyone contributed towards the win which was fantastic to see.

Our team structure and positioning improved as the game went on which was pleasing for us coaches.

We also had 7 individual goal kickers, which is exciting to see.
Claire with 4
Lilly with 3
Izzy with 2
with 4 individual goal kickers.

While kicking goals is great, we see this as a team reward for everyone's hard work. 
 
Some notable players today:
Claire, takes the game on creating several opportunities for the team, while slotting 4 goals of her own
Nikki, for getting a few touches. Although she was really nervous, she seemed to get happier and happier as the game went on
Maddie, for her tireless running on the wing all day, we just couldn't keep the smile off her face

What was also great to see is the team backing themselves and their teammates all day. What an outstanding team effort. 

I hope everyone had fun today and the parents enjoyed watching the team play.

Go Baysie

Round 2

v NORWOOD
The focus this week was the ANZAC spirit and the values that go with this both in life and in team sports. We were very fortunate to have Sergeant White from the Australian Army speak to girls pre-game about the ANZACs both past and present. We hope the girls got something from this experience.

It seems so long ago we played Round 1 and the team definitely kept their confidence coming into round 2. We started off well, kicking the first goal of the game and we thought this was a continuation of Round 1.
 
This wasn’t the case, the girls were beaten in the contest in the last 3 quarters with our tackles not sticking and our structures around the ground breaking down. The great news is we have things to work on as a team and coaches to improve these areas. Our structure is key and will create a team style of play, so we will persist until the team gets comfortable with our style.  
 
There were plenty of positives to take away from this game, some of the individual skills including our run and carry and explosiveness from the congestion was promising.
 
It was exciting to see Georgia play her first game of football, and she will only continue to improve with more training and games.
 
Phoenix also played her first game with the team and she really shone with her speed, agility and backing her own ability. She was a deserving winner of the ANZAC day medal
 
Both Maddie and Jasmine continue to learn their craft on the wing, one of the toughest positions to learn around the ground, but when it comes off the ball will start to move around with more speed.
 
A great effort overall and some encouraging signs, we just need to increase our periods of consistency.

Round 3

vs East Burwood
 
The girls faced another tough challenge coming up against another undefeated team and to their credit they did well. These grading games can be great learning experiences for the girls and they shouldn’t get disheartened.
 
During the game we never felt the opposition were significantly better overall but they did the small things well which made a big difference, this is the learning. During the first break we spoke about the need for a player to guard the goal line (a goalkeeper) as two of the first three goals dribbled through and to fully utilise the goal square when kicking out. The girls improved in this area during the game, which was pleasing.
 
We are still learning accountability for your player, not to be drawn into every contest and body positioning at stoppages, particularly in the back line. All things that build with the number of games played.
 
What we did see starting to work is their structured movement around the ground with the play, allowing players to kick to a target. This showed our game plan started to work in patches and should improve with the more games played.
 
Again, there were some great passages of play which gave us great excitement and we were so close to scoring on several occasions. Our girls continue to learn and gel with every game they play which is exciting. We still want the girls to back their own ability and skills and not to worry about turnovers.

Round 4

vs Montrose

It was a warm day for our Mother’s Day clash at Montrose. This week we wanted to continue our focus on player accountability, running in groups to provide support and to improve our tackling pressure.

To the girls credit they improved in all of these areas this week. Their tackling pressure particularly in the first half was the best they’ve done this season, but this can still be improved as we’re not finishing off tackles allowing the opposition to slip out. Their accountability of their players in our back half and running in small groups to create options also improved this week.

It’s now just increasing their consistency in these areas, which can take time, but still it’s heading in the right direction.

The girls should still be very proud of their first four rounds, playing three A grades sides in a row and being competitive in big chunks during two of those games.

This week I could name several girls that played well, but I wanted to mention the below players
Anouk for playing a solid game in ruck, she was highly competitive in her tap work and gave our girls the first look on several occasions. Rotating with Pippa gave us great flexibility during the day
Liddy, at full back for having accountability of her player during the first half. Her kick outs are also improving.
Skye absolutely played out of her skin, she was just everywhere. Her tackling pressure was high, she read the play well chopping off their attacks on several occasions. She also attacked the ball all day creating and winning contest after contest.
We also welcomed Evie for her first game, playing on the wing and on the ball, she showed some great signs and we look forward to watching her develop this season

Grading games are now over and we’ll know in the coming days what grade we’ll be in.

See you all at training this week

Round 5

v Lilydale
 
This week we continued with the focus of player accountability, running with support and tackling pressure. We felt the girls did very well in all areas. They were so accountable that our players followed their opposition everywhere. At one stage we had both back pocket players in the forward line.

During the week we worked on body contact, getting the girls comfortable with pushing, bumping, holding on to and escaping tackles.  The tackling pressure was more consistent this week, particularly in the first half.

Again, we felt that we were competitive all game, but some lapses resulted in goals to the opposition. Again, it’s lengthening our consistency and reducing the lapses. This is slowly improving each week with the girls becoming more comfortable with their positioning and understanding their abilities during the game.

We still want the girls to back their abilities and take the game on, which they are doing.

Some key stand-outs for us coaches this week.

Indi played her best game this season across half back, she dominated most of her contests and we noticed her confidence in her own ability rise considerably.
Lilly played really well and was involved in many contests which she won comfortably, we hope that she gains confidence from this and continues to trust her skills and ability each week
Emma Lee played her first game with us as this was the first week the timing worked for her. She loved every minute of the game and fitted in so well, we hope to see her back later this season when timing allows  

Every week we see the girls' confidence and enjoyment for the game and team rise

Round 6

v The Basin
 
We got off to a strong start this week with four scoring shots in the first quarter. We felt like we played a strong quarter of football but didn’t convert our chances. The girls continued to play a great brand of football throughout the day, but just couldn't see the rewards on the scoreboard.
 
We continue to see great passages of play and as we keep saying it’s coming together. Sometimes it’s just game time and experience that build their skills and footy smarts.
 
We are proud of these girls each week, watching their abilities improve is very exciting. Their bond and trust in one another in the game continually improves and we feel another win is not too far away.
 
We have mentioned Skye over the past few weeks, but I feel her efforts in the midfield, which is completely new to her, was outstanding, her speed, kicking and footy smarts almost broke the game open for us on a few occasions.
 
It was also great to see Grace fight hard all day too, ensuring her player got very little of the ball while she accumulated a few possessions of her own.  Again, another player whose confidence is improving every week, as she gains more trust in her own skills.
 
We are becoming more consistent across the ground, but we’re coming undone with our kicking distance and accuracy. We will have a focus on kicking over the next few weeks to hopefully improve our kicking consistency and distance.

Round 7

v Mitcham

A great effort by the girls this week, performing strongly in all quarters. Building a lead early allowed us to move a few players into positions they haven’t spent much time in. We saw Grace, Liddy and Izzy who all normally play strongly in our back line spending some time up forward bagging 5 goals between them.

This creates opportunities for the team and girls in the future. By knowing multiple positions it will help us all moving forward.

Whilst we did very well and the girls celebrated a well-deserved win (and finally got their big booms), us coaches always look for improvements. We felt our midfield did a superb job all day, working well together and communicated effectively. They did however get sucked too deep into our forward line causing us to lose our defensive structure. Whilst this wasn’t an issue this week, it doesn’t stack up against the stronger teams. These are the lapses we talk about, but it will get better.

We also had a great opportunity this week to work on our bench rotations. The ownership was put on the midfield group to work their own rotations, which they did magnificently. We now know that we can do this in future games now, so it should make it easier to do rotations when we have big bench numbers.

Overall, a great game to be part of and we’re very happy with the way the girls played.

Goals – Lilly, Phoenix & Izzy 3, Claire & Pippa 2, Indi, Grace, Liddy 1

Round 8

Vs Wantirna South 

It wasn’t quite the result we had hoped for as we came up against a skillful Wantirna South team. This round we welcomed Mia for her first game with the team.

We couldn’t fault the effort of all of our players. In the absence of Coach Ben, Coach Shaylee took on the board, with a large bench to contest with for rotations. A few players got to play in different positions, including Lily in ruck, where she did a great job. We did give away two free kicks, being out of position at the center bounces, however this is something that we can learn from and continue to ensure that the girls see the board at huddles.

Lennox made herself a goal of gathering the ball twice in one quarter and kicking the ball up the wing which she succeeded in, helping the ball move down to our end of the ground. 

Skye was tasked with tagging a player and did exceptional in laying tackles and keeping the player from being Wantirna's preferred target.

Overall the girls should be proud of their development in skills and their enjoyment of the game.

Round 9

v Kilsyth

This week we came up against the benchmark of the competition and it was going to be  a great test for the girls. Before the game we spoke to the team about playing against top sides and the internal pressure this team can put on themselves.
So, we set a goal to come out strong and assert some early pressure to see if we could crack their confidence and allow us to control the game. The coaches felt our first 5 minutes were competitive, stopping multiple entries to their forward zone, but we just could not stop all of their forward pressure. This seemed to open the floodgates, and they started to score quite freely in the first half.
Our third quarter was strong, outscoring the opposition and giving the girls some confidence. There were great passages of play and we saw players like Nikky and Lennox and Bella grow in confidence by getting multiple possessions during the day. It’s always great to watch players in their first year get so excited about getting multiple touches and setting new personal bests for themselves.
Overall, Kilsyth were too strong for us on the day, but the girls should still be proud of their efforts as they continue to build their football skills and their friendships.

Round 10

v Ferntree Gully (FTG)

We felt confident coming into this game knowing we would be evenly matched based on FTG season results to date. Pre-game we spoke about utilizing the wings more by going wide out of defense and bringing the ball towards goals on offence (effectively a big triangle).
We did this well all day, which made it harder and harder for the opposition to score freely.
The first quarter felt evenly matched, with Grace kicking a goal and scoring a well-deserved pay day from Dad. Although had FTG kicked straight it would’ve been tougher to claw back.
We felt FTG acclimatized to the weather quicker than we did and moved the ball with more ease in the second quarter climbing to a 20-point half-time lead. The instruction at half time was no more kicking off the ground, they had to pick it up allowing them to control the play.
From here the game turned, the girls turned on their groove and we started to see what we all knew they were capable of. We even had a mini switch in, which is not normally coached at this age, so it just shows the natural instincts the girls have and hopefully have the confidence to continue.
We felt the third quarter was one of their best team quarters this year.
During the last quarter we managed to trap the ball inside out the forward line with Anouk and Pippa setting up a mini wall not allowing the ball to come out. The only downside is we didn’t capitalize on our forward pressure.
Maddie kicked two goals for the game and Jasmine with one. This earned them a trip to the canteen at the end of the game. I love these little side deals players have with their parents, particularly when they pay off.
Overall, a great and well-deserved win. It was enjoyable watching the girls belt out the song at the end with all parents, siblings and grandparents watching on.

Round 12

v South Croydon

Another home game this week. There were some rumblings during the week about the opposition and again on game day. The girls seemed to be intimidated about their position on the ladder and then how tall they were.

During the game we moved the ball well around the ground, but we did seem to get stuck in our back line as South Croydon set up well. The key difference was discipline and accountability to their team structure.

South Croydon held their defensive line across their forward line making it difficult to transition out of the back line. We spoke to the girls about accountability and knowing where their player was, however, we just kept on getting sucked into the contest.

Apart from this, which is a key learning for the team, I felt we played well for most of the game and looked dangerous in parts.

We did feel that the girls had talked themselves out of the win during the week and then again on game day. We want to flip these thoughts and for the girls to have confidence that we’re a hard side to play against.

Some shout outs for this game were Alysha and Mia.

Alysha has really started to find her groove over the past few weeks and has been part of some great plays. She has even started to focus more on her own skills and we can see her pure desire to improve.

Mia joined us part way through the season and has taken a few games to feel part of the side, but she was part of some exceptional plays along the wing, including winning a two on one contest. She absolutely loves playing in the forward line and we hope some goals come her way quickly.

Round 13

v Norwood

During the week we focused on building our defensive structure and ball movement. We have also been discussing how we should be setting up behind the ball to ensure it's harder for the opposition to break through our defences. These are small changes to our game style, but it should improve and control game tempo.

The girls came to the ground switched on this week, which was exciting as they generally play well when they’re all switched on. They tend to focus, communicate and listen to each other.

The pre-game instructions were for our midfield group to control the game from the first bounce, which they did exceptionally. They continued to control and direct traffic throughout the game.

We decided to play some players out of their normal positions and they excelled. A special shout out to Liddy, Maddie & Claire. Liddy played a stellar game on the wing, she created several opportunities for us. Maddie & Claire played off the half back and along with our midfield group ensured we controlled the game.

It felt that we controlled the tempo for the entirety of the game, locking it in our forward often, and, when it came out our half backs drove it back in. It again showed us how good this team can be when they believe and communicate.

All the girls played a great game and it felt like they all came together for the victory. We hope they can continue this into the last game of the season.

Round 14

v The Basin

Four weeks ago, we spoke as a team to set a target for the last 3 rounds. The girls confirmed they wanted to win the last three. Two weeks later we were one win and one loss, so this week was to reiterate this goal, and it was up to them to deliver on their own promise.

After an outstanding game by the team in Round 13 I had every confidence the girls could win, but it would be a challenge, and they would need to execute the game plan we’ve been working on to be competitive.

There were some great signs early on, with the girls keeping up with the Basin and moving the ball around the field well. Our scoring shots were fairly even in the first half, which showed we had lots of the ball and opportunities. The key difference was The Basin were kicking goals, we were kicking points. At half time, we were still in the game, and we discussed the areas we were breaking down at the half time break.

The third quarter was the game changer, The Basin came out and really took the game on, having 9 scoring shots to our zero.

The last quarter saw us come together, winning the quarter playing as a team through consistent team play and communication. A great last quarter of the year.
Thanks for letting me coach this wonderful group. We had 14 players playing their first year of football and their overall abilities have improved significantly since the season started. You should be very proud of your daughters. I know us coaches are.

It’d be great to see everyone return in 2026 to continue what they’ve just started.

That's a wrap for the 2025 match reports.

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