The Hills United FC GYL program is aiming to end the year on a high and bring silverware back to the club. With two teams looking likely to qualify for the upcoming finals series, it highlights the ongoing strength of the program and its importance for the development of junior female footballers.
The U15’s and U18’s Hills United FC GYL teams are currently on course to compete for the championship in just a few weeks. The U18 team, coached by Hills United first grade women player Jessica Garrett have already secured their spot in the finals and is currently first in the FNSW Girls’ Youth League 2 on 56 points.
Having recorded a 14-game unbeaten run, Garrett’s side will have to continue their strong run of form into their final three games of the season if they want to win the premiership, with the Central Coast Mariners only a point behind them in second place.
The U15 team, led by the Head of the GYL Program, Greg Clay, is sitting 2nd and hopes to secure their finals spot when they host the Camden Tigers this Sunday. However, the two will be in a fight for the premiership up until the final day of the season, with the top four only separated by a single point. First-place St George FC is only one point ahead of United, though third-place Central Coast Mariners and fourth-place SD Raiders both sit on the same number of points.
“We’ve got a big game on the last day of the season,” Clay said.
“We’ve got three rounds left. The last round is against SD Raiders, and there’s a good chance that both those teams will be hoping for results to go their way on that last day to come first in the Premiership.”
The success of these two clubs exhibits the ongoing strength of the GYL program and the vital link it holds in transitioning footballers from the junior development league (JDL) to youth league and then into senior football.
“I would describe it as a bridge between the GJDL, which is age groups 10 to 13, which is very much focused on player development, not results; there is no table in JDL, Clay said.
“Then GYL is kind of that bridge between taking from that development space to building them up, continuing the development but also preparing for senior football when they hit 23, where it is all about results and competitiveness.
“It’s kind of that gradual learning of the competitive instincts, of the need to try and win as well as just development skills and everything else.
“It’s a gradual slider as you go through those GYL age groups.”
The team at Hills United is currently striving to get the club promoted by Football NSW from Youth League Two into Youth League One. The opportunity is not earned solely off the performances of the teams on the field but by improving and demonstrating a club’s effort to provide a better service and outcome for its players.
If promoted, Clay stated that it will only improve the quality of the club and better prepare the female footballers for senior football and the opportunities beyond the GYL program.
“I think 24% of (the consideration of being promoted) comes off of club championship results over the last two years,” Clay said.
“The rest of that comes down to Football NSW assessment of the program; they come out and do training visits, match day visits. We have to submit our football philosophy to them, our coach performance reviews, our player development program, and our coaches must be a certain level of qualification.
“It’s really a holistic review of the entire program.”
“We are in the later stages of that process, and we find out just after the end of the season whether we get promoted into a GYL One.
“So that’s exciting; it’s not the be-all and end-all, but it will give Hills girls better access to the top level of youth football in the state.”
Proudly Sponsored by:
Club Partner: Wisdom Homes
U14s Sponsor: Allseal
U15s Sponsor: ParkHill Homes
U16s Sponsor: Cardfix
U18s Sponsor: BLV Engineering
Girls Youth Division Sponsors: Swing City & Modern Glazing
