The Bats farewell a mixed season

The Flying Bats women’s soccer team finished their season last weekend with mixed feelings and a determination to get even better next year.

It was with equal parts joy and regret that a number of Flying Bats members watched their club mates from Division 10 go on to take out the season final. It had been hoped the Flying Bats would manage to get at least four teams into the championship finals, a feat which sadly went unrecognised this year.

In spite of any feelings of regret though, 40 or so Flying Bats, bedecked in club hoodies, rallied around their club mates last Saturday to watch the heated final match.

Club press secretary Anna Flynn said it was a bittersweet ending to what had been a mixed season.
Over the entire season we really have performed much better than we have in past years. We had anticipated getting at least four groups into the final, but it was just unfortunate that most of our teams got knocked out right near the end of the season. It was a bit disappointing but, to be honest, none of that really mattered last Saturday. We were just there to support the others.

It was a close match that was only won on a penalty shoot kicked by Tina King, the club’s longest standing member.

It was a real nail-biter, Flynn said of the day.

It really was a fantastic match, and we were so proud to watch from the sidelines, all 30 or 40 of us in our hoods.

With this season over, the Bats are taking time to consider how they can improve next year.

In a strange way, I think we’ve been victims of our own success this year, Flynn conjectured.

We had the largest number of players we’ve ever had this year, and I think unfortunately we just haven’t had the coaches and the trainers to cope with that. I mean we’ve loved having all of these women come and get interested but it has meant a lot of new players.

We’ve actually been looking for a new coach for a while without much luck, so we’d be very interested to hear from anyone who might be interested in coaching or helping out with training sessions. Technically they’re supposed to be NSW-accredited but we’d be happy to fund putting someone through that if we could just find someone who’d be willing to take the position on.

info: For a full rundown of season fixtures or to get in touch with the club, head to www.theflyingbats.com.