by The BNF Women’s National League will be split into two sections following the first round of games and returns this Sunday. Part 2 sheds a spotlight on the trajectory of the teams who will form part of Section B. Make sure to check out Part 1 which is focused on those in Section A if you missed it.
San Gwann
San Gwann will feel hard-done by the cut-off, considering that they landed themselves in fifth by just one point adrift of Swieqi United. Despite the close margins it means that they will be competing in Section B. In fact, the pack between third to seventh is quite tight, with the Yellows closely followed by the new sides of SKMM and Valletta who each bagged nine points from the first eight matches.
San Gwann are being led by Andjela Kricak, who is also actively involved as a player in the senior team, having joined the side over the summer after a stint in the US and with Spartak Subotica.
Kricak summed up the season so far, “Unfortunately, we did not make the top-four, even if perhaps I believed we could make it. However, one very positive thing is that even though we had like a roller-coaster of a start, the girls always kept fighting until the last minute and never giving up. The team was fighting for each other, not as individuals, which makes me proud. We can be good as individuals, but when we play as a team we can be a lot better. The important thing is that we are improving day by day.”
San Gwann is another club which has a number of players who are playing in the U19 league and one which seems to be very much focused on building a squad for the future. The coach underlined the importance of teaching the basics to unlock more complex aspects of the game, “We are working on a lot of small details that can change the game, but the aspects that I am fully focused on right now is building our physical and technical attributes. It’s really important to know how to control and pass the ball properly to be able to go to a higher level. Once you master these basics, it will be easier to go to a higher level when they are at the U19 or senior level.”
The coach praised the work being done while also acknowledging that it will take time to see results, “There is a lot of improvement from the players, which I am happy to see. As a coach it is important to be patient with them, while the players have to also be patient and work hard toward the goals even if it is something that takes time.”
One aspect which Kricak has been clear about in her philosophy for the age group, even in a past interview, is that they also enjoy playing the game. “I think this is very important because if you are not enjoying it, then there is no creativity, no energy, no life in the game. When you enjoy the game, it does not even need to mean that you are touching the ball, just enjoy being around your team, then you start bringing your best game. You start to bring creativity you did not even know you had and also learn more quickly because you are enjoying it. This is why I think that at this age it is important to enjoy the game and why I encourage the girls to have fun at this age.”
The coach continued in view of the tough experiences that players face in professional football, where pressures are high and chances for mistakes are low. She said, “If one day they become professionals, then it gets more serious and although you still enjoy the game, there are other pressures to perform every single task well. Sometimes coaches do not appreciate this. So, this is why I think that at the smaller ages it is very important that the players enjoy playing the game and then use that as a foundation.”
SKMM & Valletta
The Yellows are closely followed by the two new outfits of SKMM and Valletta, who are tied on nine points. SKMM feature a combination of players from Mtarfa, Mgarr and Gozitan side S.K. Victoria Wanderers.
SKMM coach Nenad Tomic expressed mixed emotions about the current form, “My expectations at the beginning of the season were a little bit higher. However, I cannot be dissatisfied with what our team achieved in first round. We showed that we can play football against all the teams equally. In my opinion we lost some points in some games that we did not deserved to lose.”
Being a new team means that there is extra effort required to get the group working well together as quickly as possible. Tomic said that this is something that the team was ready for, “Yes, it can look like that is a problem but we have done everything to minimise this issue. We did some team building activities for the players, we talked a lot about team spirit and how unity is really important.”
The fact that the team boasts players who are based both in Malta and Gozo presents a different challenge to get the training schedules sorted and the team working together. Tomic continued, “There are the hurdles of distance between the islands and managing facilities like where to do the sessions if all the players are capable of participating in the session. These are on top of the usual challenges of coaching any team such as selecting the right players to play.”
Despite this, the coach remains upbeat, “However, I can say that we had a great cooperation with all the coaches and club officials, good communication and all participants have a really good will that this project succeed.”
Fellow newcomers Valletta are being led by Julian Buhagiar, who admired their closest rivals SKMM but is also of the belief that his team will grow more into the second round. He said, “Yes, we are tied with SKMM who are very organised and physically strong. We struggled a bit in the first three games. However, I think the games in the second round will be differently because at the start we were still recruiting a few players. Looking at our squad now, I believe we can take points against SKMM and do better overall.”
Asked about the biggest hurdles faced so far as a new team, Buhagiar said, “Initially our struggle was certainly the squad depth. Although we had a good number, many of these players were new and so they had to adapt to the intensity of the league. Since then, we have managed to bring other players on board and I think once we got the first few games out of the way we really kicked on and good better results.”
Noting this running-in period, the coach is of the opinion that things would have shaped up differently had the teams been split following the second round. “If the split occurred after the second round I think we would have been in a better position in the table because as I said we lost points early on until we got our squad ready.”
Tallying with this belief, the team is setting high targets for the upcoming rounds, “We are two points away from San Gwann, who is a good side with more experience in the league. Our target is to get the first spot in Section B, which will not be easy but we will always be learning throughout to get better. It’s important to learn from the mistakes and consolidate what we are doing well.”
Setting sights on the long-term goals, Buhagiar continued, “Hopefully, next season we will hit the ground running immediately and be in the fight for the top-four. I think our advantage is that we have a lot of players who are young. This means that assuming the league next year will still be of the U16 category, we will be losing only a small number who will be ineligible. This, together with perhaps recruiting a few more players will allow us to build on this season’s campaign and hopefully start it on a positive note.”
Santa Lucia & Gudja United
Trailing behind are Santa Lucia on three points, which they obtained against Gudja United, who are chasing their first points of the season. Santa Lucia are being led by a young coach in Amy Busuttil. She is well-known by those following the senior women’s football league as the centre-back of Hibernians, while also having received call-ups to the senior national squad.
Santa Lucia will be competing in the knock-out after beating Gudja United. Speaking about the progress, Busuttil said, “The direct encounter against Gudja was a Knockout preliminary, so that game was a very important match for our team. The positive result means we will be participating in the Knockout, which is a chance to play more games, improve further and challenge the other teams as well. The result ended in our favour. However, both the players and I know that the team’s performance could have been much better.”
Asked about the points tally, Busuttil noted that the team is young with most players being around 13 years old, with many of them having played only for a couple of seasons at best. Noting this the coach responded with a more long-term outlook on the development of the players. She said, “I acknowledge that since this is a competitive league, perhaps our aim should be on winning and getting positive results to reduce the gap between the other teams. However, in this case, I believe in player’s development more than just simply obtaining the results.”
The coach spoke about training players with a long-term vision in order to avoid the pitfall of developing bad habits that may not get punished in the U16 league, but which would set the players up for failure once they transition into the U19 and senior league. “I can easily ask two or three players to shoot every time they get the ball, and probably they will be able to score because the pitches we play in are very small. However, this is unlikely to work for them in the more senior leagues. In this case, as most players are around thirteen years old, I personally don’t think that results are more important than developing them holistically.”
The coach spoke with the belief that developing the key aspects of football will allow them to thrive in the future. Busuttil elaborated on the pillars of development, “I want my players to develop both as individuals and as football players. My aim is to help them become mentally resilient, understand the game from a wider point of view, become physically literate and technically good. To do this, I also prioritise positive attitude, together with good teamwork. Obviously, not everyone will manage to be the best in every aspect, but I must try to help them use their strengths to their advantage while working to improve their weaknesses.”
In fact, asked to give examples of areas of development Busuttil spoke about the balance between developing the cognitive aspect of the game and the technical abilities. She said, “I want my players to become better than me and the rest of us. So, I focus a lot on helping them understand the concepts of the game, and the triggers to their play. Football is simple, you give a good pass and move to either create an option or to create space. However, you must understand the triggers, when to pass in feet and when to play the ball in space. I coach them to understand when to pass, not for the sake of passing but because there is a logical reason behind it. The same with movement. They also have to learn to play with intensity and not take it easy on the pitch.”
Busuttil concluded on the importance of balancing this with improvement in technique, “As simple as it sounds it’s very easy to make mistakes especially if a player struggles with the simple details. Therefore, technique is very important as well. I work a lot on coaching them how to take a good first touch, give a good pass with the correct weight, and then moving.”
Being a student-athlete herself, Busuttil also nodded to the fact that the commitment to the game is exceptionally important, especially when players are juggling this against school. “At times, players come tired after school and wouldn’t be in the mood to push in training. As a coach, this can be frustrating especially when I know that three sessions a week is not enough for anyone to improve all these aspects, let alone them who started in this league as underdogs and so have a bigger hurdle. I try to guide them to train and work hard alone, especially if they want a career out of this sport. Attitude and discipline are very important. On the other hand, as a student-athlete myself, I understand where they are coming from. So, as a coach, I try to help them holistically and give them opportunities in which I didn’t have myself.”
In relation to this, Busuttil noted the shortcomings of the education system in catering for those aspiring for careers in sport. “The Maltese system doesn’t always allow dual-career student-athletes to succeed in both school and sports and so as a coach and player myself who has been in this system, I try to guide them on how they should find a balance between school, sports, rest, friends, and family.”
The coach finished by noting that although it can be mentally tough to lose games and handling all this, she is proud of the team for their progress, “It is not an easy journey for them, but I am quite happy with their progress. I just believe that with more effort, hard work and discipline, they can achieve much more than what they are achieving right now. If I focus on developing them holistically, I know that within four or five years from now they can become very good players, with a good level.”
Santa Lucia are closely followed by Gudja United, who are searching for their first points. Asked to articulate the possible reasons for the challenges faced, Dino Pace nodded to the difficulty in attracting quality players from nearby locations. He said, “We are a new nursery and Gudja is a small town with old people. Another fact is that we are surrounded by potential clubs such as Hibernians and Santa Lucia. Good players from the surroundings choose Hibernians, Valletta, or any other high-profile club.”
However, Pace noted the investment being put in to change the trajectory of the team and enable better development. He said, “We brought new qualified coaches, increased our training days to four times per week and try to play every week. We are also preparing our players to be more motivated, hard working and changing the losing mentality to a winning one.”
The five teams will get very accustomed to one another as they compete against each other in Section B in the next part of the season which kicks-off this Sunday, the 10th of December. Until then, make sure to check out the first part on the top-four teams contesting Section A if you missed it, here.
The Assikura Women’s League will also return to action tomorrow 8th September with a double-header at the Centenary Stadium (Hibernians v Swieqi United – 14:00; San Gwann v Birkirkara 16:30).
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