It's been another good season for our female players. The Exeter City Women's team, under the guidance of Steve Tully, has won the Devon League 1 Championship and will be playing in the Devon Premier League next season.
This is not only a great achievement for the team, but also for our development system as six of our current Women's team have come through our Girls Development Centre. Another three girls from our Girls Senior Squad have also now stepped up to start training with the Women's team, ready for next season The Girls Development Centre programme has once again proved very popular with the talented players (and their parents) from the local area. This season, 45 girls were selected to receive weekly coaching from our team of experienced coaches.
The emphasis at the centre is very much on individual player development and there has been a satisfying improvement in all of the girls who have attended. This improvement, not only benefits the girls themselves, but also the local and school teams that they play for. In this way, the Centre is helping to raise the standard of girls' football in and around Exeter.
The decision by the FA to only have one licensed Girls Centre of Excellence in Devon (ie; Plymouth) has made life very difficult for us. They have refused to allow other Centres of Excellence to play us, so finding suitable fixtures has been hard. This continues to frustrate us, as we know that other nearby Centres want to play us and we have proved in previous years that we could more than compete against them. (Interestingly, I have recently had calls from the parents of girls attending the Plymouth Centre who are enquiring about coming to our centre next season). However, the FA refuses to budge on this issue, so we will carry on regardless.
There is a definite need for a development programme for talented girl players in this part of Devon and Exeter City is determined to provide it! Fixture Reports With all development matches, it is important to remember that the result is of secondary importance to the performance. These games are designed to be learning experiences and to give the girls a chance to put the coaching they have received into practice.
Cadet squad v West Wales (home) - 7-a-side Mini Soccer
This was the first real chance for the girls to play against quality opposition. However, they quickly settled into their 'control, pass and move' play and created a number of chances with good combination play. This was also a chance for coach Chad Gribble to work on their response to losing the ball and re-organising a defensive shape. A satisfying performance from all of the girls involved. Result: 1-1
Intermediate Squad v West Wales (home)
This squad was a little depleted by the need for some of the girls to step up and play for the Senior Squad. This gave some of the younger girls a chance to assume key roles. Positions were rotated quite frequently in this game in order to assess how the girls adapted to positions they were not familiar with.
At this age, the girls often suffer from lack of leg strength when trying to make long passes on a full-size pitch. This was quite evident in the first half. An increased focus on short passing and movement saw a considerable improvement in the second half performance. Emily Steer showed a good finishing touch with two well taken goals and Meg Griffiths controlled the defence confidently. Result: 2-2
Senior Squad v West Wales (home)
Unfortunately, a number of the Senior Squad girls were unavailable for this fixture due to training for the Ten Tors event. However, this was a chance for four of the Intermediate girls to step up and gain some experience against a physically dominant opposition. In the first half it was clear that the West Wales side were a strong and well-organised team. They dominated the first half and one player in particular had a fearsome long range shot that netted her two goals. At half time it was decided to get our team to focus on their defensive organisation. This produced a much improved second half performance with a more controlled approach to bringing the ball out of defence and a much improved defensive shape. Natalie Volpini (one of the Intermediate girls) was excellent at Centre Back. Result: 0-4
Cadet Squad v West Wales (away) - 9-a-side intermediate pitch
For this fixture the girls played on the larger pitch that West Wales are used to playing on. This was an excellent learning experience for them. The girls played some good football but struggled to make use of the extra space on the pitch. The Welsh girls made better use of the pitch width and got around the back of our defence on a couple of occasions to score. However, at the end of the game the Welsh coach came over and acknowledged that we were the better footballing side. Result: 0-2
Intermediate Squad v West Wales (away)
A strong cross wind made this a very difficult game. However, a full strength team coped with the conditions very well. Meg Griffiths marshalled the defence and brought the ball out from the back with confidence and some incisive passing. The front pairing of Emily Steer and Marika Ghiglia combined well to create a number of good chances that led to two well created and well taken goals. At the other end, we conceded a goal when one of the girls tried taking on her opponent in an inappropriate area of the pitch, the resulting loss of possession led to a quick goal. (another good learning experience !). Towards the end of the game, goalkeeper Shannon Tomlinson made an superb diving save from a fiercely struck shot that veered in the wind - a real 'Kodak moment'. Result:2-1
(Due to Ten Tors commitments we were unable to field a Senior side for the away fixture. However, next season we will bring these fixtures forward a bit so they don't clash with the Dartmoor event.)
Thanks
I would like to thank my team of coaches, Steve McLear, Galvin Short, Chris Eveleigh and Chad Gribble.
I would also like to thank Sally Ames, who helped out during the season.
Although our development programme has finished for the season, we are still running some open girls football sessions on Monday evenings at King George V Playing Fields, 6.30 - 8.00 pm starting Monday May 11th.
Any girls aged 10-16 who are interested arewelcome to come along.
Needless to say, if you know of a talented girl player who would be interested in being part of our development programme next season, please get in touch with me.
Exeter City Girls Development Squads 2008-9
Cadet Squad (10-12 yr olds)
Eloise Cresswell; Billie Denny; Meredith Deighton; Paige Longworth-Wakeham; Karin Underwood; Grace Melluish; Courtney Butt; Chloe Williams; Leah Burridge; Ana Holmes; Beth Ricketts; Manfy Sharpe; Deryn Spencer; Jolene Spencer;Stacey Taylor; Maxine Welch;
Intermediate Squad (12-14 yr olds)
Holly Burdick; Sam Burnham; Chloe Channing; Ellie Clarvis; Marika Ghiglia; Rachel Golby; Meg Griffiths;
Jaz Hervin; Lauren Jones; Kerri Larner; Lara Spiers; Emily Steer; Natalie Volpini; Elle West; Charlotte White;
Senior Squad (14-16 yr olds)
Shona Ardy; Rachel Holland; Elena Holmes; Varrie Nielsen; Megan O'Boyle; Jess Parker; Hannah Pattle;
Leah Rawlings; Lorna Rice; Abbie Smyth; Alex Spencer; Shannon Tomlinson; Shannon Toogood; Hayley Worsley
KEVIN HACK. Head Coach, Exeter City Girls Development Centre. Tel/Txt: 07768 034743. e-mail: kevin.hack@tiscali.co.uk
