Youth Women coach’s review
How do you rate the season?
This season started out slowly but finished as a great step forward for the YLW program at Werribee. After a productive pre-season we started off with a tough schedule, however soon found our strides winning 12 of our last 13 games. We maintained a strong core from the previous season and that helped the continuity of coaching. We made a conscious effort to play at a very quick pace and it proved to be successful not only for individual development but for team success. The group made finals which was again an improvement from last year.
What were the positives for the season?
Our strong focus on culture and development. The goal of the squad was to get 1% better each session as an individual and as a team. And looking at the results and the style of play from individuals and of the team I believe we accomplished this.
Obviously winning 12 games in a row was a massive positive for the season. Also having 2 girls earn college scholarships from this season was a massive positive for them as individuals and I couldn’t be more proud of those players.
What could have been improved?
We had a very offensive focus this season, as it took a lot of work to implement the style of play we were intent on playing. This meant that we could have been more strict and disciplined defensively. That will be something to build on next season. With only one player aging out, hopefully we can retain the core group of players and then can continue where we left off.
Who have been the standouts on court for your team?
The system we have implemented is quite egalitarian in its approach and it meant that we consistently had multiple contributors over the season. 8 of our players scored over 20 points at least once during the season, and we had 7 different leading scorers for games.
In saying that, Olivia Klaman had a brilliant year, and was the MVP of our team. Liv had some big games which included 32 points against Whittlesea and a 37 point game against Pakenham (including 9 3PM).
Alana Anthony also had a great year for us. She bought energy offensively and defensively and again proved to be one of the hardest covers in our competition.
Are there any YL2W players you could see making the leap into our Champ Women side next season?
This season we saw Ariyel Edwards make the transition to being a 2 way player with the Champ Women’s side and I think there are other players who could potentially look to make that jump. The program took a leap forward as a farm program for our Women’s team and I think we will see a clear pathway continue to develop in the next one to two years.
