Dec 24th – Girls Academy Year in Review

Sponsorship: Prior to the commencement of our season we acquired a complete set of new jerseys, sponsored by BEKO. We also had a Christmas Draw sponsored by Mediterranean Shipping Company Genève, 7 prizes in total. For our away league games we continue to supply bottles of water, health bars to all participants including oranges for home & away games that go down a treat….!

Training/Weekly Dues/Registration:
We brought training indoors to the Community Hall back in October when the evenings got short & the weather became bad to ensure that we keep our entire squad together, both the older girls who play in the Under 12 CWSSL & our younger members. This certainly has worked & is quiet evident in the numbers attending indoor training on a Thursday between 5-7pm.
Although indoor facilities greatly restricts what we can/cannot achieve from a training point of view, the comradeship between all girls is incredible, many of whom go to different schools, Watergrasshill/Glenville/Fermoy, and only meet up once a week. This will certainly stand to them as we process over the next 2 years in our under 12 league.

Thanks to all families for registering and for your diligence with girls paying the euro 2.00 weekly payments which go towards hall rental/various club outgoings/reinvested back into the Club.

League:
This was always going to be a tough year for our Academy Girls & indeed coaches as they entered for the first time a competitive league. We had no previous foundation with this squad & the only option was an under 12 league, which means we compete against teams who have been established many years ago & who are 11, 12 year olds versus 8,9 years old from Watergrasshill United. This is a massive age difference, especially in sport, HOWEVER it seems to be us coaches who get deflated at the hands of results & not the girls!!! This goes back to the friendship bond within the squad. We are learning our trade the hard way & no doubt this will stand to them, the vast majority who are under 12 for the next 2/3 years!

We have been going through a run of away games, but for every away game there will be a home tie, with the exception of cup events. Our numbers travelling remain consistently great so thanks again and payments for the referee at home games only, has been 100 percent.
Once this season is finished the CWSSL will place us in a league that is more compatible with other teams of similar ability.

Player of the league games/team captains:
For every league game we pick a team captain & player of the game, which empowers players & has improved their confidences.

Indoor Futsal Blitzes:
Again to ensure we continue to grow as a squad, we commit to entering the futsol blitzes run by our league, CWSSL, out in the Sports Village on the Model Farm Road. Going forward & to ensure that players don’t get too fatigued on the night, we will be limiting our teams to 6 a side, bringing on substitutions at half time. Our attendance this year at these events have been astonishing, up to 18 at one blitz

CWSSL Training Sessions: To date 8 girls have attended a special indoor training session run by the CWSSL (one in Nov & one in Dec). Attendees were randomly picked & our members get a chance to interact with other team players under the eye of qualified coaches, all to improve their techniques.

Girls Under 12 Development Squad: As we play in an under 12 league at present, despite the young ages of our squad, the majority are actually 8/9/10 born 2002/2003/2004, we have two members who participate weekly at this sessions which is run by the CWSSL. This development squad is predominately targeted towards girls born in 2001 and therefore is the reason why we have not advertised our involvement this season as they will have the next 2/3 to participate. We will be looking at this more closely next season when we’ve a competitive one league run under our belts.

Website, PR Coverage, Communication: All our events year to date can be viewed in detail on the girls section of our website and this coverage typically also appears on our face book page & The Avondhu/Glanmire News/East Cork Journal/Cork Independent/Blackwater News from time to time.

It’s never too late to join our Girls Academy, if interested please contact us on 086/4476760.
This contact number is solely for our Girls Academy & it’s usage is controlled by Paul Sharkey.

As you know we communicate quite a bit via text message & the responses back on text to availability for games/blitzes etc has been truly brilliant, thanks everyone. We would encourage at all times parents comments/feedback etc, if there’s something to be said please say it…This dedication is voluntary for all coaches who give up their personal time to assist with the development of our Girls Academy.

As one can see there is a lot of activity within our Girls Academy structure, including many hours of voluntary time travelling etc. We have belief in our Academy, which shows in this commitment.

We thank Watergrasshill United’s committee members for all their support & encouragement to date.

Of course finally we’d like to thank ALL parents/families who have committed & stuck with us during 2012, for those who assist us during games & at training, and of course ALL Academy Girls for their dedication & fantastic attitude week in week out…. “Beidh muid ag teacht go maith”

HAPPY CHRISTMAS…
Jackie, Tony, Ber & Paul…..