A young and dynamic Sacred Heart College Futsal team has made their mark on Hawke’s Bay’s Junior Female League, beating Napier Girl’s High School in a thrilling final. 

The 2-1 win avenged their first and only loss six weeks earlier against NGHS. 

A quick goal from Laura Brassington in the first half, followed by a rocket free kick from Captain Sophie Walker in the second half, had the girls up 2-0. 

While NGHS worked hard and managed to get one back with three minutes to go, SHC proved too strong and held on until the final whistle. 

Coach Lisa Brassington said she was so proud of the girls and the determination they showed throughout the season. 

“Some of the girls really haven’t played a whole lot of football but they really never gave up and they were so determined to do their best.”

She says they were delighted to get a win over a bigger school. Going into the final, they worked particularly hard on a game plan. 

“Futsal is fast and hard and especially in term one nobody is super fit because it is the start of the year, but they never stopped, and they gave their all every week. They were absolutely amazing.”

The team was predominantly made up of year 9s, with only four year 10s included, who had played in a disrupted season last year. 

The final saw two of their players away with the school’s production, meaning they only had one sub compared to their opposition’s four reserves. 

Laura, who is in year 9, said she enjoyed the team environment. 
“After we lost our first game, we became more focused, and our team got stronger together.” 

She said the last few minutes of the game was hard as they were worried they were going to lose. 

“We just tried a but harder and got some more energy into the team, but it came out good in the end,” she said.

Year 10 player Sophie says futsal is much faster than football. Despite having played football since she was little, she only recently got into futsal but enjoys learning new skills.

Both girls have played for their respective age groups in the region’s representative football teams and hope to be selected for the school team this year.