By Hayley Wildes
There is no need to look any further than the Gembrook-Cockatoo Football Club to see the full effect of the female football explosion.
Before this year, there had never been a female football team based out of Gembrook-Cockatoo, but in 2017 there is a team of Under 16 girls that are taking the Eastern Region Girls Football League by storm.
After dominating the initial four rounds of grading, the team was lifted from Division Two to Division One.
That may have fazed some teams, but these girls have taken the higher level of standard in their stride.
Currently sitting on top of the Division One ladder, with a record of 11-1 – their sole loss being a two-point loss in their first ever game together – Coach Calvin Osborne credits the team’s work ethic and desire to learn as keys to their success.
“From the start, they’ve listened and followed instructions really well and their skill progression has just been unbelievable,” Osborne said.
“I’m enjoying it, they’ve been amazing to coach – I’ve enjoyed it more than I thought I could have.”
The football club didn’t plan to have a girls’ team this season, but it came about through the work of Holly Osborne, who was determined to play football.
“It’s the first girls’ team for the junior football club ever,” Osborne said.
“My daughter Holly wanted to play but I told her that I didn’t want to drive her all over the place to play footy, so if she wanted to play, she’d need to start a team. And she did. She got on social media and just teed up all these girls.”
The success of the team is made all the more remarkable by the fact that the majority of the girls had never played football before this season.
“We have a lot of first time players – some have played school footy but there are heaps of first time players.”
With a myriad of wins under the belt, there have been many highlights, but Osborne singles out their first game in Division One as the highlight thus far.
“We had no idea what to expect or where we were at when we went into Division One. We played Montrose, who were sitting top of the ladder and we were really unsure,” he said.
“We knew that they’d smashed a lot of teams and were top of the division but we didn’t really know what that meant. The game was so hard and physical – we had two concussions and a broken arm. It was one of the hardest games of footy I’ve ever seen.”
“It was an absolute arm-wrestle and it was within a point up until three-quarter time and then we just beat them in the last quarter.”
A four goal to none final quarter saw the team run out 41-13 winners and in the process send a message to the rest of the league; Gembrook-Cockatoo means business.
The culture within the team has been strong from day one, and the values of the team have held them in good stead as they’ve progressed throughout the season.
Osborne credits a ‘trademark exercise’ that was undertaken at the beginning of the year as setting the standards for the group. The question of why you play football was raised, and the group came up with four values.
“For us it was fun, fitness, friendship and winning,” Osborne said.
“I always said if we got those first three right, the winning would come. They’ve stayed a really close and very committed group. In regards to their fitness and skills, it’s unbelievable what they’ve done in a season.”
The support from the Gembrook-Cockatoo Football Club has been second to none.
“The footy club has been great,” Osborne said.
“The club didn’t really plan for it, but there has just been so much support. People love watching them play and because they’ve been so successful there’s a lot hype around them.”
With one round to go and then a finals campaign to follow, make sure you keep an eye on the girls from Gembrook-Cockatoo as they look to create some history.
