BERWICK is the inaugural Youth Girls Champions Trophy winner after defeating Sunbury by 14 points in the grand final at J.J. Holland Park in Kensington on Saturday.
The Wickers qualified for the one-day event when they won last month’s South Eastern Youth Girls premiership over Noble Park.
The victors of the other three Youth Girls leagues around the state – Sunbury, East Malvern and Jacana – joined Berwick in the competition. Games were played over two 15-minute halves and the Wickers ended up playing five matches for the day.
Berwick won only one of its three round-robin contests – against winless Jacana – but progressed to the decider when it beat East Malvern by 26 points in the semi-final stage.
Gymnast-turned-footballer Madison Grace Brownrigg was Berwick’s best over the day, but usual suspects Tess Butler, Ellie Blackburn and Bec Pearce also starred.
Blackburn and Pearce are representing the Victorian under-18 team against Queensland in the Interstate Challenge on the Gold Coast from 19 to 21 September.
Wickers coach Cherie Charles was pleased to win the title after her players’ ‘horrible’ start.
“After winning the grand final (last month), which was the most important thing, I said to them, ‘let’s just go and have some fun’ – maybe I shouldn’t have said that,” she said.
“But, as the day progressed, they realised they wanted to win and started to play as a team.”
– Marc McGowan
