Vawdon touch football Fridays are back and the third women’s squad couldn’t be more pumped. After poaching players from various social and representative teams (shout-out to Balmain Tigers for donating almost a quarter of the team) the squad is filled with the best and brightest around. Headed by coach Bri Anderson who plays div one women’s for the club, we’ve chosen Justine Mackenzie’s border collie puppy, Joey, as our team mascot to intimidate and psych out our opposition. Since no one seems to have been able to figure out how to make the whole bullet mascot thing work, we’ve chosen this terrifying ball of fluff as the next best thing.
We may not be in the top squad but we work hard and play hard. While we definitely have a reputation to get around club events, most of the team train both at the mandatory session and optional skills, while also playing at multiple park competitions throughout the week. Shout out to Meena Subramanyam who flies to and from Melbourne every week and still manages to make training work, and to Su An Hui who had to get stitches after a particularly intense pre-season scooping drill. Don’t sweat it though, she’s now recovered, locked and loaded to head up our wingers’ squad.
To start off we have Cassie, team playmaker and speedster, known for stepping all the boys at Monday night social. Jenaya Goodacre also brings her soccer skills, in both her fancy footwork and explosive running off the drive and through our line attack plays. Our other middles are Abby Friend and Lindsay Bennett, who love to chat on and off the field and are truly the on-field communication glue the team needs – particularly when Sophie Petersen Tym whips out the rugby terminology to send the whole team into confusion.
Justine, apart from bringing team baby/ terrifying mascot Joey, is one of our lightning fast links. A bullets veteran, both she and Emilie Tremblay are our main girls to take off from dummy and burn the defence on the inside. Also a long-term member of the Bullets family is Seraphina Brown, who’s had a position switch-up this year and moved into link to bring both her amazing defensive and communication skills.
On the other hand, we have a fair few newbies in the team too, including Natalie Chiu, Naomi Halim and Kim Nguyen. Each of them have proven themselves to be crazy quick learners and huge assets to the team. Though they haven’t been at the club long, we can’t wait to dominate the field as their untapped potential is let out by star coach Bri and they really come into their own.
Of course, we can’t forget about our wingers, who are central to the whole operation. Ama Anwar and Kat Jansen are both irreplaceable, screaming at us to get back onside and communicating the touch count when it all gets a bit hectic in the middle of the field. Though not actually a winger, we can’t wait to showcase Vanessa Tan’s super speed as she burns the opposition on the outside during the box drive to convert try after try.
In a nutshell, despite being a relatively fresh team we’re excited for a successful season of tippity tap and good times. To sum up our hopes and dreams for the season, in the wise words of tennis legend Serena Williams: ‘We’re really exciting. We smile a lot, we win a lot, and we’re really sexy’.