Women's Central League

Nice match report Feverish - if nothing else, Karori will win the PN Parents Fair Play award, good job!

I refereed the Marist vs Massey on Sunday and I must say I was very impressed by both teams. Massey were unlucky not score again as Frank mentioned but in the end Marist's first half dominance was the difference. Marist vs Wharfies looks like a great combo for the Knockout cup this weekend.
F.

where and when are these games being played? are the other WCL teams playing normal league games?

Only 1 CL game and likely to be lotsa transfers!
NZF WOMENS KO CUP:
Brooklyn Northern    __    Wellington United    __    Wakefield 2 (1pm);
Seatoun              __    Upper Hutt           __    Seatoun (1pm)
Marist               __    Waterside Karori     __    Kilbirnie (1pm);
Miramar Rangers      __    Lower Hutt           __    David Farrington (1pm); YELLOW FEVER WCL:
PN Girls High School __    Massey               __    Colquhoun Park (1pm);

Kilbernie = Te Phaea

anyone want to see me and Brian shouting at each other turn up to Kilbirnie Pk (or maybe Te Whaea) on Sunday. Oh there should be some good footy too. 1pm

this sounds to good to miss

Today: Seatoun 4 Upper Hutt City 2.

Today: Marist 4, Karori 1

Sack Greene

that's a shock. match comments?

Fairly even game, UH 2-1 up, ref awarded a fairly dodgy pen and Seatoun scored two in quick succession. Ref failed to call two pens in the second half to UH, for careless and injury-causing tackles off the ball and Seatoun did well to score a further goal. Draw would have been a fair reflection, although UH seemed to let them have the victory in the end. Poor referee-ing continues to dog the league though - oh and Sack-man again made a vocal appearance.

is Sack man that guy who shouts abuse?

Brian was very quiet at the game today !!!Marist Vs Karori



And Karori coach was kinda quiet on the second half of the too !!Chinzillian2010-05-23 23:08:14

Yeah Sack-man is the old straggly haired dude who has been "supporting" womens football in Wellington for over 20 years.  Normally seen with an umbrella or canvas sack over his shoulder, ranting to anyone who will listen.

Yup- sackman was being hear loud and clear at Seatoun Park.

was Jacqui rugby tackling again?

Nope- not Jacqui.

I like this paragraph from Jeremy Ruane's review of the opening cup round (nicely worded)...

Jeremy lives in Akld and makes up the comments based on looking at the score. What was your take on the game Green Machine?

Two of the tackles happened in front of the sideline I was watching from, the ones in the area which were Jacqui taking the player and little if any of the ball, both resulting in what looked like fairly serious injuries to both players (which I hope they recover fast from).  The waist tackle was surprisingly not Jacqui, although I think they must have gone to the same tackling school.  The circus-trainer of a ref highlighted the farcical by then twice awarding freekicks to Seatoun when the closest UH player was more than two metres away, once "foul" for apparently ducking.  I am looking forward to seeing some trapeze artists and clowns on tricycles next week!

I'm aware who Jeremy Ruane is. Although he was not present at the game, I thought his comment about the score was spot on.

can you send that to Jeremy please

The whole league is a joke.  Capital Football don't even believe in it as can be seen by the joke refs appointed.  All they believe in is the opportunity to charge max fees and max penalties.

that's harsh

No need to send me anything, folks - just because I post irregularly doesn't mean I'm not observing the goings-on.

Not moaning JR, just stating facts (which were obviously just that, as one coach at one game can hardly report on three other matches - and perhaps even accurately on his own game by the sounds of it.) Furthermore, I stated people would no doubt be appreciative of hearing results, so no need to get so defensive.

But as Mr Blobby noted, Wellington women's football has gone downhill in the past five years, which Capital Soccer has a lot to answer for (as well as NZ Football). If only it could go back to the 1990's - early 2000's when Wellington Women's and club football was something to be proud of!

Sorry, Goonerfan14, I didn't make it clear. I contact the coach or manager of one of the teams involved at each game for brief details - basically the result and goalscorers of both teams, and anything else of note (red cards, primarily).

Settle down chief, no need to start bringing out the lawyers

Comfort of a couch/comfort of a bus, let's not argue over semantics or get emotional, this is a forum for friendly banter, chill

How so? What was different in the 1990s? Aren't there more teams now?
Why do you think it's gone downhill in the last 5 years?
I'm not having a go, I'm just curious because my experience is the exact opposite!

Sure women's football still needs a lot of work, but don't you think CF are helping by having the working group review women's football and taking on board all the suggestions made, and they introduced the Girls Only league on Sundays which has just exploded in numbers this year.

Better refs would help the standard of play improve as well. Frustration with poor ref decisions cause players to get angry and lash out. Football suffers accordingly.

why slag off those involved in the game trying to make things happen, including CF, if the reffing is your only gripe? Blame the refs if you must. These days they are increasingly the ones you get in the mens leagues on Saturday - so hard to make this gripe gender specific.

Yes, let me take a bit of that back.  Capital Football are making inroads at improving Women�s football, but there is a lot of work to make up.

I am guessing you must be of an earlier generation Shankdit, because things were A LOT better in the 1990�s - early 2000�s and I don�t think many people who have been involved in the past 30 years with Wellington Women�s football would disagree.

What was different?  Well there were more teams and divisions in the 1990�s than there are now, and the Central League was a true representation of the central region with the likes of Napier City Rivers, Taradale, New Plymouth, Taranaki and Palmerston North teams dispersed with the STRONGEST Wellington teams.

Add to that, a generous spread of New Zealand representatives from all age-groups spread amongst each of the teams (although as is life, they tended to group together.)  Although the real strength was the Wellington Under 17 and 19 Central region representative teams, which competed against the likes of Manawatu, Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay, before the best of the crop representing the Central Region at the National U17/19 Tournaments.  These teams got local and national coverage, which promoted the region no end.  Whilst similar tournaments are held at Fed level, the strength of this structure meant that most 14 to 19 year olds were playing against each other at club level, then joining at rep level and a rare few then made the Wellington Senior team � this formed a great culture, kept the standard higher with more players playing rep football and senior club football and the atmosphere was one of rivalry (although more of a friendship) than can be seen in today�s game.

Maybe it is also a sign of the change in generations, where in the past the senior players were respected, training was compulsory and you didn�t talk back to coaches, refs, the opposition�s coach, subs et al.  Maybe, however, because it was never needed?  Friendly, yet competitive rivalry prevailed.

Obviously junior football is thriving, Sunday �girls-only� football has record numbers in attendance and the All Whites have helped this along � but going forward, all we can hope for is the continued positive change in culture and the league.  There needs to be: a serious dedication to referees; the league structure and rules need re-addressing; and sponsorship or encouragement of Napier/Manawatu/Taranaki teams to strengthen the league and remove the weaker Wellington sides � all to help relive the moments of the past, so those who weren�t there to experience it, can see how good the region and league can be.  Shankdit, if you need confirmation, just ask one of the senior members of your local women�s club team.

A great summing up of the history of women's football and what we can all do to get it back to its hay day.

Interesting. So you're talking about elite women's football?

Gooner unfortunately/fortunately I AM one of the senior members of my women's club, tho I've only been in Wgtn for 5 years or so. In that time we (WU) have grown from 1 social team to 4 teams of differing ability spread in CL, Divs 1, 2 and 4. Which I consider an achievement. But our CL team is one of the "weaker Wellington sides" you mentioned you'd like to see removed. Which is interesting because what we do next year is going to take some thinking. Getting smashed each week ain't fun, but I've been talking with players from other CL teams and CF etc and the feedback is we have a good base skill level and we should definitely stay in CL again next year. Take this year's experience and grow from it etc etc We did consider not going up this year and having another year in Prem, but we were given the opportunity to play at a higher level, so thought it foolish to turn down.

But I think it's fair to say, the gap between Prem and CL is huge! So how do you bridge that? We won every div every year for the last 3 or so years, so we had a speedy promotion, so maybe that was our downfall? But, regardless, how do you develop/foster more elite players? Is it by bringing in the top teams from Hawke's Bay and the Naki? How do those teams get sponsorship/dosh so they can enter?! I believe there were teams considering entering this year, but didn't last minute and i think $$ was a huge factor.
And I guess if you can increase the standard of women's football, you would in turn attract better refs?!

For me, I think one of our (WU's) biggest successes this year was our new div 4 team, 90% are women who have never played football before. And I went along to Nairnville on Sunday and there are 100s of girls playing footy, the field's are completely surrounded by excited parents, it was really positive to see! And much different to my own experience as a 10 yr old in Rotorua (in 1990...), rocking up to trials, the only girl, 2 minutes on the field getting smacked in the face, and that was my footy career on hold til high school! So interesting that there was more women's teams than now here in Wgtn - in Rotorua we had no girls teams, and by mid 1990s when I was playing for my school and a club, there were only 5 or so teams across Rotorua/Taupo/Whakatane. Clearly my experience is quite different!

And I guess I'm from the POV of trying to encourage more participation. I'm keen to see any/every girl/women that wants to play, in a team and on the field.

So can you/me/our clubs/CF foster elite women's football and develop the game and encourage more social players at the same time? If there are more girls playing at a younger age (as seems the case?) then does that mean we should have more girls coming through for U17s and U19s? How do you catch those players at that age group who are transitioning from school to club?

woops, that's a bit longl! But I think, like you, I know there's so much potential and so much that could be done to improve women's football!

how do we involve the like of the Napier/Naki's/Wangavegases if they dont have the ability/$/desire?

That indeed is the challenge - to determine the barriers stopping them from entering and looking at ways of overcoming them, whether it be games half-way, funding from NZ Football/Sponsorship to encourage and develop the senior level of the game in that area...I know of several players in the top teams in Napier and it is the organisation and money that is the issue, not the quality of players or desire to play and travel, like their senior mens team does.

goonerfan14, you have made many comments, suggestions, critiques. Talk is cheap. How about come out of the bushes and walk the talk, eh? AngusBeef2010-05-25 14:27:32