By JARROD POTTER
USUALLY the summer months are slower and more sedate for footballers but clearly Izzy Marsh didn’t get that message.
The 15-year-old Youth Girls footballer from Garfield has a lot piled on her plate this off-season as she prepares for a big season ahead.
She was part of the Sandringham Dragons’ Youth Girls’ Academy and participated in the Youth Girls’ Academies Camp at North Melbourne earlier this month.
It places her in the best 100 Youth Girls’ footballers in the state and she was amazed to be part of the camp considering the level of talent on hand.
“I wasn’t sure if I’d get in or not because all the girls seem to be pretty good and more experienced than me as I only just started in the high performance last year,” Marsh said.
“They taught us set-ups for our team – as we were at the camp with the Calder Cannons and the North Ballarat Rebels – we played a match against them on the last day and we won all of our games which was good.”
To make that next step up in the football ranks, Marsh switched to Hallam Senior College and is now part of the football program with coach Brett Alexander and she’s thrilled for the experience, if not the travel.
“I didn’t expect it to be so good (Hallam Senior College) and the girls there are so nice and really supportive,” Marsh said.
“Brett is a really good coach and he’s very supportive at school and as a footy coach, he’s always there if you need him.”
Marsh was also recognised for her football endeavours with a $500 Local Sporting Champions Grant from Pakenham-based MP Edward O’Donohue and is currently trialling for Vic Country Youth Girls’ under-16 and under-18 teams.
Lastly, but definitely not least of all for the prolific footballer, she’s returning to Warragul Colts’ Junior Football Club for another season in the Warragul District Junior Football League… perhaps even to defend her 2013 co-Best and Fairest.
It all makes for a busy 2014 spent at the coalface getting countless contested possessions under the packs and making sure she gets the best out of her footy.
