Although the schedule indicated the opening round would go ahead as late as Thursday evening, Moama coach Kate Christie said Nathalia approached her side with insufficient numbers for the clash through the week and an agreement was struck to reschedule the fixture.
As it turns out, the school holidays were also causing havoc elsewhere, as Cobram and Shepparton United also decided to move their fixture, the entire round now to take place on Thursday, June 4.
It means Moama will now begin its premiership defence away this Sunday, visiting league newcomer Cobram, the Tigers team forming after Barooga’s club move to the unaffiliated Picola District league ruled it ineligible to continue in the AFL Goulburn Murray-led women’s competition.
Christie said numbers at Moama remained strong despite the natural turnover caused by an age-restricted competition.
“My squad’s actually looking really great, I’ve got a list of 29 still,” she said.
“I've picked up some new girls who are new to football, some older girls who used to play for Moama before I took over as coach, they’ve all come back, and I’ve retained 90 per cent of the girls who were a part of my squad who didn’t age out.”
Moama lost only two games last season, Christie’s first in charge of the side, and, while she wouldn’t make any promise of a repeat performance, the Mowers’ boss sees a lot of potential within her group.
“I know how a few of those players are going to go from last year and they’re a very talented squad, but I’ve also got these really handy 14-year-old girls coming through,” she said.
“I think you’ll be quite surprised in how they perform.
“I’m really excited to watch them actually get the chance to play football and we’ll give it a red-hot crack.”
The formation of Moama’s first senior women’s team adds an additional element to the club’s female offering, the Mowers’ more experienced players likely to have an opportunity to play up in the seniors during the year.
“My youth girls, who are that older age, are really excited to play up with those senior women, because some of those women are fantastic leaders and my girls are already fan-girling over them,” Christie said.
“It’s a really nice culture and space down there at the minute, I think we have probably about 70 to 80 girls on the paddock on a Wednesday night, which is phenomenal.”
Those numbers include the club’s 30-strong under-14 program, Moama providing the majority of the players for that league’s inaugural season last year.
Moama will begin its youth girls season against Cobram at Scott Oval from noon on Sunday.
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