18 DAYS TO GO | Vermont junior president Clint Wheeler spoke to EFL Media ahead of the 2019 season, all thanks to Yarra Valley Water & Choose Tap.
Overall, were you satisfied with what the club achieved, both on and off the field, in 2018?
Clint Wheeler: Being awarded the Gordon Parker award for the Best Conducted Junior Club provided great recognition for how successful the VJFC was on and off the field last season. Off the field we were extremely proud to extend the options for local female footy, and saw the first of our Vermont Junior girls graduate into our inaugural senior women’s team.
We worked closely with the City of Whitehorse to continue improvements at Livingstone Reserve, including opening a second oval. On field, we had six teams in grand finals, including for the first time our under-16 and under-18 girls, finishing with two premierships in under-12A and under-14B boys.
Approximately how many teams do you think you will field in 2019?
CW: We plan to field 25 teams this year, one more than last year, with the addition of an under-10 girls team for the first time.
What has the feeling been like around the club over the pre-season?
CW: Our under-15 and under-17 teams began training prior to Christmas, with the remaining competitive age groups kicking off their pre-season in the second week of February. The feeling has been great with a number of new families coming to the club across a range of age groups and I’m looking forward to seeing our six girls teams take the field this season.
If you had to pick one, which team do you think is the club’s best chance of winning a premiership this season, and why?
CW: With 11 or our 13 competitive teams making finals last year and the new top six finals format planned this season, we’re hopeful that a number of our teams can experience some finals success again.
I’m especially hoping that one of our female teams can take out the club’s first junior premiership, following on from our senior women’s team success last year, both our under-16 and under-18 girls groups are very determined to go one step further.
Is there a particular age group of players that you need as soon as possible to fill a team ahead of Round 1?
CW: A couple of our younger age groups in under-8s, under-12 girls, and our new under-10 girls will need a few more players and we’d love to welcome some new young Eagles in those groups. We are very fortunate with good numbers in most of our other age groups but we do have some limited places still open.
Our Senior Women’s team is also still on the lookout for some extra numbers.
If any players are interested in playing for your club this season, what do they have to do?
CW: Go to our website: https://www.vermontfc.com.au/juniors/junior-club-registrations/ or send an email to registrar@vermontjfc.com.au and we will let you know if we can fit you into one of our younger age group teams.