Under 15 Girls Season Review

The MUWFC Under 15 Girls season has come to an end, after having commenced pre-season in January and playing almost 30 games including Cup and pre-season games. The squad comprised of a core group of our Under 13 Championship winning team from 2018 as well as a number of girls who were new to the club.

Joe Papalia took charge of the MUWFC Under 15 Girls in 2019, moving up from the Under 13 Girls side in 2018, with Vince Schimizzi coming on board as Assistant Coach, as well as Junior Technical Director Marie Spagnoletti, who provided valuable guidance to the team throughout the year.

The team was captained during the year by Jenny Sanchez, with Mikayla Librandi and Carmela Scalzi as joint vice captains. All 3 girls leadership and guidance not only on game day, but during training as well was notable their commitment to help the team succeed is something that all 3 girls should be proud of.

A special acknowledgement must go to both Aleisha Trebilcock and Georgia De Reuver for putting their hands up to be the teams goalkeepers this year. In what was a thankless task as times, their support of the team said a lot about their character.

The side also had some players invited through the year to train and play with our Under 17 team, including Carmela Scalzi who played a number of games with Mary Mavra’s team towards the end of the season. And a special mention to both Cristina Vottari and Liana Schimizzi who also played games with our Under 13 side throughout the year. All of these girls showed the true MUWFC spirit in being willing to play wherever the club required them.

The season started well playing and beating Adelaide City twice including a Round of 32 Cup game. We then played and were beaten convincingly by a formidable Adelaide University side which went through the season undefeated and winning all their games until we played them again with a few rounds to play. In that matchup, our girls almost managed to beat them, handing them their first dropped points for the year. This was a sign of how far the girls had progressed during the year. In comparison to the other teams in our league, the group this year were relatively young with only 4 girls required to play up an age level next year.

We finished the season in 4th position which was a terrific effort by all the girls. We had some memorable victories beating all sides in the league at least once, except for Adelaide University. The girls can be proud of their efforts this year. The girls also made it through to the Quarter Finals of the Cup competition only to be beaten narrowly by Modbury Vista 5-4. Chelsea Papalia and Mikalyla Librandi finished equal top goalscorers with 15 goals each during the year, with Olivia Ficcadenti closely following on 13 goals.

Coach Joe Papalia couldn’t be more proud of the 16 girls that came together at the beginning of the year and gave their all for the team and club. With terrific numbers at training most nights, their willingness to learn and apply that on match day was impressive and all bodes well for their futures in the game.