Junior Footy Team

QMC Football’s junior team had an exciting season this year while competing in the Strom Cup – Wellington’s top junior football league.

The team won all of their games in the league, including the final against Wellington East Girls' College, which they won 7-1, making them Wellington’s junior football champions for 2021. This is the first time a QMC team has won the Strom Cup, with QMC’s next best effort in the cup competition occurring last year when the team finished second.

Although this year’s team included some members from the strong 2020 side, most players had never played with one another before the season’s start and many were new to the Strom Cup. Despite this unfamiliarity, the team saw victory in their first game by beating the strong Wellington East side on their home field, 3-1. The speed with which the QMC players were able to learn to play successfully as a team was really impressive and aided their further early-season wins against other strong teams, including Wellington Girls' College and Wellington High School.

True to any team sport, another element contributing to QMC’s success this season was their teamwork. The positivity and supportiveness of every player granted their persistence to win games – even in horrible Wellington weather conditions! This teamwork also served to resolve the team's lack of a fixed goalkeeper and every player was willing to spend time in goal to help the team. Year 9 Captain, Greer Wilson, was instrumental in maintaining this teamwork throughout the season. Greer’s constant encouragement of her teammates and excellent work ethic always helped to inspire the same attitude from the rest of the team.

In combination with teamwork, a strong desire to win drove the team to success. Year 9 forward, Iley Nunns, scored in every game of the season and scored a hat-trick in several games. Year 8s, Sienna Hastings, Kahurangi and Kahupotiki McDermott-Samuels also scored an impressive number of goals for QMC, and, as well as winning the cup, the team finished first on goals scored, with a total of 46 across the season.

Not only did the team impress with their goal-scoring abilities, but also with their solid defence. Goalkeeping was a tedious job for QMC’s players, who kept a clean sheet for all of their games except their first and last games against Wellington East, who scored just one goal on both occasions. QMC’s backline provided an extremely reliable defence, making it often impossible for oppositions to create goal-scoring opportunities. Alongside Greer Wilson, Year 9 defender and 2020 team member Bella Kay, was a superb backline leader through her composure and consistency in winning tackles.

Throughout the season, the team has continued to improve and strive to be better. QMC’s 7-1 win over Wellington East in the final was a testament to their progress as a team and hopefully a glimpse of the success yet to come for QMC football. While some players from the junior team will bring strength to QMC’s 1st XI next year, most junior players will be able to compete in the Strom Cup for a couple more years and build on this season’s success.