Sport
25 August, 2022
Lady Redbacks stars rewarded for good season
Carisbrook Lady Redbacks’ under 18 players were well-represented at the Ballarat Football League Women’s (BFLW) competition best and fairest on Monday night. The BFLW under 18 team of the year saw Mary Fitzgibbon and Tiani Jardine named across...
Carisbrook Lady Redbacks’ under 18 players were well-represented at the Ballarat Football League Women’s (BFLW) competition best and fairest on Monday night.
The BFLW under 18 team of the year saw Mary Fitzgibbon and Tiani Jardine named across half back and the backline for their efforts this season, while Tara McBean was recipient of rookie of the year in the competition.
Lady Redbacks’ under 18 coach Greg Butler said that it was a great achievement for all three players to earn their awards for all their work for the team this season.
“Tiani has stepped up from under 14s this year, and plays in the backline. She has very good skills and clean hands, and will develop into a very good player at Carisbrook,” he said.
“Mary has played at Carisbrook over the last four years, she plays at full back and she hardly gets beaten, and doesn’t have many goals kicked on her. She is a very reliable defender. She has been under pressure often, but she has stood up and performed really well in every game, and is very consistent.
“Tara turned up at the start of the season with no football experience. She picked up the game and her skills really quickly, playing in the ruck, and she is really athletic and fit. She played nearly every game there, and was a really good contributor to the team this year, especially given it was her first year of club football.”
Despite going winless for the entire season, the focus on development was a major positive for the team, resulting in steady improvement throughout 2022.
The focus now for Butler, and Carisbrook, is ensuring that the team can have an open-age senior women’s side in 2023, with efforts to restart that going well at the moment thanks to events such as the club’s fundraiser mother/daughters game for Isla Hunter, as well as the building of female-friendly facilities at Carisbrook Recreation Reserve.
“We’re really focused on rebuilding the women’s team, getting past players back to the club along with some of the under 18s coming up, as well as some interest from new players, particularly from the fundraiser game we played the other week,” he said.
“There were a few players who had a taste of football that night. The club is really going to focus on relaunching the open age team.”
