ALL the signs this year point towards a much-improved season for the Bathurst Goldminers women’s State League side as they take on the Goulburn Bears at home this Saturday.
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Goldminers return to State League after a year spent in the Youth League competition, where the Bathurst side finished their season with four wins from 16 matches.
The team are set to climb their way back up the standings with familiar faces returning and having a much bigger player roster to work with.
The Youth League side from 2014 were constantly struggling for numbers.
Their third and fourth quarters often had players not only having to do longer stints on the court, but sometimes left the Goldminers with little or no subs to use if foul trouble came into play.
Coming back to the open age division has allowed coach Jo Cafe to bring in some names who missed out last year and put those worries behind her.
“We’ve got quite a big squad which is what we needed. We have seven players returning from last year. We’ve picked up Emily Matthews but she won’t be available until later this month after she’s through with her state commitments,” she said.
“Olivia Patterson and Claire Woolmington are in again after missing out last year. Teagan Burke is in along with Alysha Booth and Mary-Anne Porter. It’s great to have these older players back in the side to help the younger girls out.
“Rachel Murray will be playing too until she goes back to the States. It’s good to have girls that I’ve coached before, there’s nine of them in this squad. They know the way I do things and the plays I run.”
While the new players don’t address some of the issues that have plagued the team before, most notably in the height department, their volume is peace of mind for Cafe.
The team have been hard at work prior to the new year as they help prepare the younger portion of the team for what lies ahead against older opponents.
“We’ve got the strong players, it’s just about how well they can gel together. We were lacking in the height department with just one tall player (Laycee Covington). We still don’t have anyone around that six-foot mark but this is a team that will be skilful and fast and that’s what we’ll rely on,” Cafe said.
“We’ve been training since last year and they’re all very committed. It’s all been enjoyable so far. I’ll also have Teagan helping as assistant coach so it will be great for the team to have her input and not just my own.”
The match gets underway at the Bathurst Indoor Sports Stadium from 5pm on Saturday.
BATHURST GOLDMINERS: Alysha Booth, Teagan Burke, Hannah Cafe, Laycee Covington, Bronte Emanual, Meredith Jones, Rachel Murray, Chelsea Noon, Mary-Anne Porter, Riley Smith, Claire Woolmington