Kenmore Auskick & U6
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KENMORE JUNIOR AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL CLUB SEASON REPORT 2015 THE MIGHTY KENMORE BEARS KENMORE BEARS AFL 2015 SEASON REPORT Another successful year both on and off the field for the mighty bears. We fielded 17 teams this season: - 2 x Under 6 - 5 x Under 8 - 2 x Under 9 - 2 x Under 10 - Under 11 - Under 12 - Under 13 - Under 14 - Under 15/16 - Under 17 The Under 14 (Jindalee), 15/16 (Wests Juniors) and 17’s (Jindalee) teams were combined sides. This enabled our players to continue to play with their mates while also making new friends, all three were hugely successful. The Under 12’s and Under 14’s played their grand final yesterday, we are hoping for two flags. A huge thank you to all Coaches, Assistant Coaches, Managers and parents/siblings that help out on game day. Without you volunteering we could not play games. I would also like to thank our 3 umpires, Mitch Lake, Max Chambers and Aaron Luhrs, along with Keely Luhrs for the fantastic Friday night food. As I travel to most clubs it was interesting to hear positive feedback on Friday food from all opposition clubs. Next year we are planning on fielding teams in all age groups, under 6 to 17 again plus all girls’ teams in under 11, 13 and 15. Make sure you keep looking at our Facebook and web site for updates in the off season. Off the field we got a new grandstand, play-ground and shed continuing the great work of the committee. KENMORE AUSKICK & U6 It’s been a long year for some of the youngest members of our club starting way back in early March with AFL Auskick. We had a record number of participants (over 50 boys & girls) for the 6 week program and was capped off in style by our “Presentation Night” thanks to our local NAB Branch at Kenmore whom not just donated $500 towards a free barbeque and jumping castle, but also provided gifts to all our boys and girls as well as numerous staff on the night to run and supervise the evening. A very big thankyou goes out to all the staff at the Kenmore NAB and in particular the Branch Manager Samantha Beveridge for their involvement and contribution. As a subsequent lead in to our U6 AFL program, 16 of our lucky Auskickers got the opportunity to play on the Gabba at half time of the Brisbane Lions v West Coast Eagles game back on Sunday the 26th of April. While our local Brisbane Lions were unable to match their opposing team from the west, our boys had a fantastic experience and one in which they would not forget for some time. Following on from Auskick a good proportion of our boys and girls transitioned into U6’s which continued again on Friday nights with a similar focus towards skill development, some short games on our newly marked out field while never departing from the overall theme of having some fun and enjoyment. In addition to our Friday nights, mid-season we introduced the opportunity for our U6’s to play more formal games on a Saturday morning as the Kenmore Blue Lions & Kenmore Gold Suns. While most games were held at Kenmore and played between each other, we did have the opportunity to play our teams on one occasion against two U6 Yeronga teams. See the below photo of all our boys whom participated. Thank you to all those Auskick and U6 parents/guardians for enabling your boys or girls to participate throughout the year and hope your combined experiences at our club have been a positive one and one that will continue long into the future. Finally the biggest thankyou of all goes to our two Auskick and U6 coaches, Jacob and Dakota. Without their involvement it would have been extremely difficult to get both programs up and running and not have been the success it has. Thanks again. KENMORE U8 GOLD As Coach and on behalf of our Team Manager Scott, we couldn't be happier with the way the season has progressed throughout the year and the enthusiasm and improvements the team have made as both individuals and as a group. Our aim this year has been to have fun but at the same time focus on skill development and the introduction of some basic AFL game concepts under the heading of Team Rules. These team rules have been gradually introduced and included, “Staying on Your Feet”, “Running to Space”, “Manning Up”, “Compete Hard for the Ball” and “Looking Up to Pass to Team Mates”. All the boys to their credit continued to improve from one week to the next highlighted in particular by the way in which our team played over their last few games. The boys and parents have been a great group to work with this year and a very big thanks in particular goes out to all the parents for their assistance and support throughout the year, hope to see you all back again next year. UNDER 8 GREEN What a fantastic season 2015 was for the girls, boys and parents of U8 Green. The improvement in play from the start of the season until the end was enormous and the kids should be so proud of themselves. We had 6 players who had played U8 last season and 4 younger ones, which was an excellent balance with the older boys really prepared to help their younger teammates get involved in the game. We started the season with a real focus on accountability, i.e. marking your opponent and making it difficult for them to get possession. We learned that you don’t guard the goals, you stop the other team getting the ball as they can’t score goals if they can’t get the ball. The kids really bought into that early in the season, but it wasn’t until we were dominated by one of the other Kenmore teams in about week 6 that they realised what it was all about. As the season went on we focussed on getting the ball first. The reasoning is that the other team wants the ball too, so you need to make sure you get the ball before they do. This gives us a chance to score more goals which we all love doing...sometimes too much. One area we haven’t quite mastered yet is not diving on the ball, which goes against the natural instincts of most of the kids and is something that we will need to focus on next season. Once we started getting the ball we started to look at sharing it better and leading into space. There were some fantastic end to end passages of play as the season went on with players running to space and running onto the ball. We constantly worked on basic skills of kicking, hand balling and marking as well as playing our favourite games Across the Ocean, Stuck in the Mud and Bomb the Coach. But I think everybody’s favourite was using the Spekky bag. Here is a little about all the players: Alec Bethel: Alec is a skilful player with a real eye for goal so much so that he didn’t miss one shot during the kick-a-thon. He is a strong mark on his chest and overhead and is really good at listening and following instructions. As he grows he will get better at winning his own ball and continue to develop into a great youth player. Josh Broderick: Poor Josh missed the start of the season with broken arm, but once he got his confidence back got going really well. He has a really big kick and has started to get the “mad dog” instinct to win his own ball. Josh kicked seven goals in a game against Jindalee at the end of the season. In the off season he is going to work with his Dad on dropping the ball correctly so his kicks spin like a drop punt. Harley Carruthers: Harley became affectionately known as “Nugget” and that is exactly how he plays. He is as hard as nails and loves the rough stuff, even with his team mates at training. His kicking has really improved and he knows how to win the ball. Prone to the odd lapse in concentration Harley will improve greatly with age and experience. Alexandra Cutler: Alex is such a pleasure to have around, she is always smiling and well mannered. She seemed to really love playing footy and always tried so hard. It was really exciting for all of the team when Alex kicked her first goal late in the season. Hopefully she keeps going with footy as she is able to win the ball herself, which is a natural talent. Joe Goudie: Joe is fantastic boy to have in the group, he is always happy with a little cheeky streak. He has fantastic skills for a seven year old and is really good at reading the play and involving his team mates. Joe watches a lot of footy and it shows in the way he plays. He has flair and confidence and takes fantastic overhead marks, both one and two handed. But Joey, sometimes it’s better to kick a drop punt rather than a grubber, snap or banana. Isabella Middleton: Issy is such a great girl who has footy in her blood. Sometimes I got the impression that there were places that Issy would rather be like having a sit down on the spekky bag or getting a drink.