We started the season fresh, with a group of girls who had never played together before, a first-time coach, and a first-time manager. Right from the get-go the girls got on so well - they really bonded. They always arrived at practices and games with a great attitude, keen to learn and keen to work hard.

Kicking off with a win by 18-10 in the first game we continued this winning streak for the next 6 weeks.  As the season has progressed it's been awesome seeing individual skills improve, and confidence growing - both individually and within the team. We have a lot of competitive athletes in our side, even so, when games got tough and sometimes refs calls didn’t go our way the girls played fair, showed great sportsmanship, and wore the Cote colours with pride.

It has to be said that the parents also played a big part, they have been a fantastic group of supporters and a great positive influence. This really strengthened our team culture.

I’ve really enjoyed managing the Rippa U11 Gold team in their first season, and I look forward to building on the team next year and seeing what magic we can create!

Kirsty