By Mathew Asciak
The Coburg Football Club is excited to announce that Maddie Edwards will retain her role as the captain for the senior women’s team for the upcoming season, with Amy Mitchener being selected as the vice-captain for 2022.
Having built strong foundations in the inaugural season, Edwards is excited to lead the girls again in 2022 and is eager to see the new development squad in action.
“I’m stoked to be voted in again on my second year, and just looking forward to building on what we created last year and going even further with that. Having the development team and have some of those younger girls the chance to step up this year and develop their skills to a high level is exciting,” Edwards said.
Senior coach Liam Cavanagh praised the young leader for her maturity and willingness to bring everyone together.
“We are quite simply so lucky to have Maddie at our club, her leadership and maturity is well beyond her years. She has been recognised emphatically by her peers as the person to continue to lead this club. She does so much in bringing our group together, both returning & new players,” Cavanagh explained.
Experienced defender Amy Mitchener was excited to lead alongside Edwards in her role as vice-captain, given the high quality of possible candidates in the squad.
“[I’m] really excited, this year there was so many people that could have stepped up for this role, I’m pretty excited to be chosen to represent the club as vice-captain,” Mitchener said.
With Mitchener’s vast experience and knowledge of playing sport at a high level, Cavanagh believes she will be a great fit in her role alongside Edwards.
“Amy has such great knowledge and experiences of playing high-level sport, I think she is a great support for Maddie as she brings a different lens to the group. Amy’s leadership on the ground speaks for itself, she is unmatched in her ability to read the game and set the field up,” he said.
The club has three additional members joining our leadership group for 2022, with Tash Phipps, Sophie Damon and new recruit Kurtis Shine.
With Phipps and Damon entering their second seasons at the club, they are both focused on leaving their legacy at the club and furthering the work done in 2021.
“I’m proud to be part of the leadership group at Coburg, I really love this club. We have such good values and such a special group of people to play footy,” Phipps said.
“It’s quite a special moment in time where we can all represent the awesome group that we got. We have a great year ahead of us, and I can’t wait to build a legacy with the other leaders and the team,” Damon said.
A newcomer to Coburg in 2022, Shine is grateful to be recognised for this position, given her short time at the club thus far.
“I feel really privileged to be selected for the leadership group. As a new player this season, I feel like I can bring a fresh perspective, but it feels nice because I came down just wanting to be part of the team, so to be nominated by my peers as a leader makes me want to do them proud,” she said.
Cavanagh said he was happy with the balance of the leadership group with returning players and new faces.
“They’ve all got their own strengths and one thing we really want to empower this year is for every single leader within that group to bring their strengths to the front and for it to not matter whether they’re captain or vice-captain or otherwise, that they all do what they’re good at for the sake of the group,” he said.
An emerging/young leaders group has also been selected, which features Angel Georgallis, Amy Duguid, Mikayla Kotas, and Mia Muscat.
Cavanagh said the leadership academy was something the club was really excited to introduce for this year.
“It’s not just about having a good season in 2022, it’s about having long-term, sustained success and a culture that continues to produce players who are ready and capable to lead this club,” Cavanagh said.
“Ultimately it’s our responsibility to prepare for the future of the club and leave it in a better place than when we arrived, we hope the academy serves that purpose, so that whenever a leadership void emerges in the future it can be filled by girls who have been learning and developing those skills.”
With the 2022 season rapidly approaching, you can join the Lions pride as a paid up member, click here for more: https://coburgfc.com.au/membership/
