By Pam Kiriakidis
MITCHELL Rangers Soccer Club is seeking players to join the 2023 senior women’s team as part of the club’s 20th anniversary season.
The club has a history of fielding a women’s side, however in the past two years, Mitchell Rangers struggled for numbers due to the impacts of the pandemic.
Cameron Leffeley has been appointed coach, along with the support of team manager Mikayla Gibbon, who was already involved with the club.
Previously coaching teams outside the shire, Leffeley said it was his first time training a women’s team.
“It’s going to be a huge learning curve for me, which I welcome that challenge, but I hope it’s also a learning curve for them,” he said.
“At this stage, my current goal is to get a team on the pitch, and whether we’re competitive or not, I just want to get them on the pitch and start to build much like the senior men have and their culture around football and sport.
“I want to build that kind of culture for the women so what that looks like, we’ll tackle it.”
Leffley said community participation was another key goal, hoping to create an atmosphere at the Sunday games when the season starts, similar to the men’s games.
“I want to do the same for them … especially at home games, put it out there, get people down from the community from whenever they want to watch,” he said.
“It makes the girls feel good when they get to play in front of a community.”
Training for the women’s senior team are on Wednesdays at 6.30pm, on the corner of Mollison Street and Pinniger Street, Broadford.