U13’s - Season Report 2017/18 - Written By Jim Bramwell
This season was always going to be a challenging one for our group of U13’s girls due to the age distribution within the team. The team consisted mainly of U11’s, a few under 12’s and only 3 girls who were actually in the U13’s age bracket, one of these being a new recruit. The league seemed well organised but the new management team (Katherine and I) took a while to find their feet. I’d like to suggest that the junior section looks at the possibility of producing a management Handbook to allow new managers to slot in and allow a smooth transition.
The influence of the age and size difference diminished as the season progressed and our girls grew in confidence. This was team that, in the previous season, had experienced heavy defeats to pretty much everyone. At some point during the season the girls seemed to decide that they weren’t going to let this continue to happen. We did still experience a couple of heavy defeats to the two stand out teams, Mellor and Timperley, but they were nowhere near as one sided as previous encounters. The final game being at Timperley, probably the best team, where we certainly stayed with them for large periods of the game. It would have been interesting to see how we would have faired against Mellor if we had played them later in the season.
The best moment of the season involved an early morning trip to Oxton. This team destroyed us by something like 20-0 the previous season and with most of Oxton standing about a foot taller than our girls we thought we may be in for more of the same. That’s not the way it panned out! Despite the long journey, the size differential, and the fact that we were not at full strength we somehow managed win the game.
The attitude, commitment and improvement of all the girls has been a pleasure to watch. We had five girls involved in the Cheshire U13’s tournament which was successfully hosted by Stockport. This tournament highlighted what a great group of supportive parents we have and the inclusion and involvement of parents should be a top priority moving forward.
The team were unlucky not to make the final of the cup tournament, beating Oxton again but narrowly losing to Cheadle. The team will lose three players due to age next year but will have more players in the U13 bracket. All those who represented Cheshire will remain at U13’s. It is important to keep trying to bring new players in, especially at Years 5,6,7 and 8.
There is going to be a change of manager with Stuart Dumbarton agreeing to take over the reins. Stuart is a parent who has kindly agreed to step up and help out. This kind of assistance is desperately needed and I’m sure that any help, advice, and support that we can offer would be gratefully received. It’s been a pleasure to work with this group and they have been a credit to the club. Hopefully they will continue to progress and develop and benefit from being involved with our Great Club and this fantastic sport!
