The 2019 football season was a huge amount of fun for the CGHS 2nd XI football team. Our team was comprised of a comparatively small number of seniors, with the majority of the girls being juniors of varying experience, but all boasting a hardworking and competitive attitude. 

We entered into the Wednesday competition, in which we were very successful; all of our games but two (in which we drew to St Margaret’s College 1st XI) were victories, where we won by large margins, which showed the way that we developed as a team as the season unfolded. 

This season we decided, for the first time since I have been at CGHS, to hold trainings after school. These trainings helped us to bond and provided the critical link between our senior and junior girls. We improved in the way that we played together as a team, and the value of this time spent together showed in our results throughout the season. The trainings were always filled with laughter and jokes which made them enjoyable, even when Mr. Hunter made us run around the field! 

During the season, our most memorable game was our semi-final match against Avonside Girls’ High School. This was a tough team, with whom we battled the whole game, and the match ended as a 1-1 draw, despite our best efforts to find the winning goal. The game then proceeded to a penalty shoot-out. We chose our five top strikers and selected Aroha, as our strongest goalkeeper, to step up for our team. The result was a 5-3 victory to Avonside Girls’ High School, and we ended the season placing third. During this final game, our team played the best football we had all season. The girls really stepped it up and played out of their minds, which showed how well our team had become accustomed to each other as footballers and as friends. Third place is, I believe, a great accomplishment for a team who had never played together before, and to see the development of juniors and seniors playing and achieving together is what made it all so much fun. 

A huge thank you to Mr. Hunter who went above and beyond for our football team, always encouraging us to push a bit further. We really appreciate all that he has done for us, especially all the trainings and the thought that put into our gameplay, and for putting up with us on the days when we were laughing too much to run fast enough and for all our talking! 

Thank you from the 2nd XI football girls. 

Charlotte Pollard