The quality of senior soccer in Wellington has continued to improve this season and the Wellington Warriors Senior Football Club came together recently to reminisce the highlights of 2017.
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Around 100 people attended the annual presentation night of the senior mens and womens divisions at the Wellington Soldiers Memorial Club on September 2.
Men’s division captain, Kyle Nonnenmacher, said both teams showed improvement throughout the year to have the men’s division finish third and the women at fifth.
“Last year for the girls in particular it was the first year we had them and they only won one game, this year they won six so it’s a massive improvement,” he said.
“This year for the boys to be one of the three dominate teams is a massive improvement which hopefully we can do it again next year.”
A player who brought a big impact to the women’s team was Vanessa Dover who was named Player of the Year and Goal Scorer of the Year. The centre-mid came in almost 30 points clear of the next award contender in what was her first season with the club.
“She was a team leader and was the highest goal scorer for the team with nine goals,” Nonnenmacher said.
Coaches Award went to team captain, Kelly Chown, and Rookie of the Year to centre back Tarni Hawkins in her first year playing soccer.
Nonnenmacher gave credit to Kayla Veech and Zoe Burns who were both foundation players from 2016, bringing guidance and confidence to the field throughout the year.
“To be able to beat teams who finished above them on the table in your first ever year of playing sport is a pretty special effort,” he said.
“If we can keep the majority of them together for another year or two they’ll probably win B Grade, push into A Grade and probably challenge those teams in the top division.”
In the men’s division Ben Turner took out Player of the Year, and Goal Scorer, after what Nonnenmacher described as a “tale of two seasons”.
“In the beginning Ben was on fire, scoring goals at will, but he got injured and missed a few games and came back a bit rusty and rugged,” he said. “But the last few games of the season he played like a man possessed and gave us that push into the finals.
Turner scored nine goals during the season.
Goalkeeper Sam Dirbiles also cleaned-up after a standout year on the paddock.
The 17-year-old was presented the Coaches Award and Rookie of the Year in his first year playing senior soccer.
“He polled in the points very well and almost won Player of the Year,” Nonnenmacher said. “He had a cracker of a year and was probably one of the differences between this year and last, having someone in the back with good hands and who knows what he’s talking about – it makes a huge difference.”
Nonnenmacher was named Clubman of the Year for his work both on the field and alongside the committee to gain increased streams of funding from sponsors, driving fundraisers, coaching the women’s team and captaining the men.
“It was an immense privilege and honour to be selected by my playing group as their Clubman of the Year,” he said.
