The 5^th  VT League tournament has taken another step forward in competitiveness for Victorian Touch Football.  The Points spread across both Men’s and Women’s has been significantly narrowed and it’s clear to see the injection of youth into the teams has really sparked the interest of the league.

In the Women’s division the Melbourne City Lions lead the pack with Falcons and Vipers hotly pursued on the ladder by Casey.  Despite their ladder position, the Western Dodgers have improved and the very young Northern Blacks team is also on the up and up.  From a Falcon’s perspective it’s great to see the new look team gelling together and improving week by week.  They’ll be aiming high for the rest of the season

Vipers are on top of the Men’s tablet with a few games to go, Melbourne City Lions and Northern Blacks are above the Western Dodgers, last season’s champions are still dangerous though and Casey and Falcons are presenting significantly improved performances so far in the season.  Our Falcon’s men’s team is still learning but has shown signs of maturing and also hints of the hunger they’ll need to claim a scalp or two on Finals day.  Will they be able to put the results on the Board?

Its Lions and Flacons 1 and 2 in the Mixed division, Vipers and Blacks are not far behind them though and this division is absolutely up for grabs come finals day.  A very strong performance from Kim Butler and Sue Droogleever should translate into finals day opportunities for Falcon’s

Eastern Falcons VT League representatives Natalie Frizzell, Georgia Holden, Sarah Ray and Bree Watkins have all been selected in the Victorian Women’s Open team
which will be competing against the best that NSW have to offer at the 2011 NSW State Cup.

The Victorian Team, captain / coached by Australian squad member Leah Percy will be heading to Port Macquarie on the weekend of December 2^nd – 5^th after a campaign that saw 37 women trial for the team. The Victorian team has been training hard for the last 2 months and head to Port Macquarie as prepared as they can possibly be after numerous fitness sessions, skill sessions and  team building days.

The team has a diverse range of talent, skill and experience as demonstrated by Falcons and Victorian Women’s open representatives Sarah Ray and Bree Watkins. Both players are veterans of open program campaigns and they will be looked at to set the tone of the tournament from their junior team mates.

Joining them from Falcons is Natalie Frizzell, fresh from her time with The Alliance competing in the inaugural Elite 8 competition; Natalie will be aiming to build on the invaluable experience gained at the recent NTL’s by becoming more of an on field leader.

They will also be accompanied by 1^st year Falcons player and making her debut for Victoria in the open division, Georgia Holden. Georgia has progressed rapidly through the ranks within Touch
in Victoria following her selection in the Victorian U18’s team as vice captain, Georgia has impressed with her dedication to training and willingness to learn. Although the youngest in the team, Georgia will be striving to have as big an impact on the field as her more experienced Falcons team mates.

Good Luck to all the women representing Victoria at the upcoming NSW State Cup.

Victorian Women’s Open Team 2011

Toni Breeze – Bayside Vipers

Alice Cooney – Melbourne Uni Northern Blacks

Natalie Frizzell – Eastern Falcons

Jessica Groeneveld – Melbourne City Lions

Georgia Holden – Eastern Falcons

Caitlyn Jeffers – Melbourne City Lions

Leah Percy (Captain / Coach) – Melbourne City Lions

Sarah Ray – Eastern Falcons

Elizabeth Motteram – Melbourne City Lions

Michelle Motteram – Melbourne City Lions

Jamie Te Pania – Western Dodgers

Bree Watkins – Eastern Falcons

Mel Woodward – Melbourne City Lions

Lauren Wilton – Melbourne Uni Northern Blacks

A great first round of the VT League and a terrific start for Falcons!
In what was a great atmosphere at the fields in perfect conditions, the Falcons VT League season was tapped off by the Womens team.  Last seasons Semi-Finalists are looking to improve on their development from last year, but in their first game this season they found themselves well behind a very impressive Casey team early and were down 5-1 at the break.  A strong second half from the girls had them just short, going down 5-7 at the final siren. From there the night went all Falcons way with the Mixed team winning 6-2 over Vipers in their very first game and that was followed by the Men’s just getting over Casey 5-4 with a strong start they wer able to hold the fast finishing Casey Tigers at bay.  The Women then had their second game of the season agins the Western Dodgers and they showed that they’d made some adjustments in the 80 minute break bouncing back with a 5-4 win.
Congratulations to all teams and I’m sure the coaches will have you working hard on the track this week….after all its only round 1!

VT League round one Games are:
Men’s
Eastern Falcons V’s Casey Tigers @ 8:10pm

Women’s
Eastern Falcons V’s Casey Cougars @ 6:30pm
Eastern Falcons V’s Western Dodgers @ 9:00pm

Mixed
Eastern Falcons V’s Bayside Vipers @ 7:20pm

Stay tuned for results and game summaries.

The Victorian Touch League taps of this Friday night and it looks to be a terrific season ahead. Increased interest around the VT League sees the very first Mixed VT League games being scheduled and all participating permits have embraced the opportunity to use the mixed division to develop depth in their squads and in their infrastructures. There will be some terrific new talent on show no doubt.

The Women’s division will see 5 permits on the hunt to take the crown held by Melbourne City Lions and by all reports the women’s teams have all been putting significant effort into their pre seasons. With Lions the team to beat look out for a rejuvenated Vipers, strong improvement from Casey, Western and Northern and time will tell if our Falcon’s Women will pick up where they left of last season and be able to climb higher up the ladder this year.

On the Men’s side of the ledger, Western will be challenged by another strong looking Vipers list. No doubt, Lions will be looking to improve on their terrific late season form from last year. Casey will also be looking to show their talent and all eyes will be on Northern to see how they bounce back from their shock finals exit last season. Falcons Men’s squad will also be looking to show that they’ve developed in the off season and will be keen to step up from last year.

Friday night promises to be an exciting start to the season, I’m looking forward to it, don’t miss the premier competition in Victoria, get down to Albert Park and have a look for yourself