By Tara Murray
Gisborne is on the hunt for more players to join its women’s football team.
The Bulldogs, which have had a team for two seasons, are hoping there might be a few people who are looking to give the sport a go, with pre-season training already under way.
New Bulldogs coach Jason Peak said there had been consistent numbers at training.
“We’ve had pretty much low teens every session,” he said. “They tell me it’s healthier than this time last year, but doing the calculations I would like a few more than that. We’ve had five new players come down so far.”
Peak said while they had looked like they had picked up some players, they had lost a number of the more experienced heads from the past two seasons who have decided not to play on.
He said losing that leadership on the field would hurt, with a number of younger girls in the side. Among them are four players who have come up from this year’s under-18s.
“Just about everyone we thought would come up from under-18s has come up and we’ll have a few more in the next few years.
“A lot of the younger girls have been playing with the boys … Some have played consistently since they were young girls,” Peak said. “Their skill level it pretty good.
“We’ll look to play a couple of top age under-18s in a few games next season to give them a taste as well.”
Peak said they were looking for players who are interested in getting involved in football and want to play. He said it doesn’t matter what age and ability the players are.
“We just want to make sure that anyone thinking they want to play doesn’t miss out,” he said. “You don’t have to have any experience, even if you just want to get fit you can come down.”
The Bulldogs will have their last two training sessions before Christmas on Tuesday and Thursday [December 18 and 20] at JD Clifford Reserve.
Details contact Jason on 0407 800 483 or Darren on 0412 335 554.
