The Narooma Lions Under 16’s had a tough year due to COVID-19 and the uncertainty of the season going ahead, they were unable to secure a coach until Ben Hardie and Hayden Lang stepped up on the Thursday before their first game.
With only 5 boys turning up to training it looked as though the team would be withdrawn from the competition, but the determination and passion shown by the boys was more than enough reason to continue.
Over the course of the next few weeks more boys started to turn up to training and most would stay once training had finished to train with the senior teams to improve their skills even further. This was proven in the results of the following games, even though we were unable to come away with a win the margin became closer.
In round 8, the last game of the season, from the bounce the Lions came out roaring, kicking more goals in the first quarter than they had kicked all year.
The boys had turned up to play, they desperately wanted to get a win. Unfortunately the opposition had more energy left in the tank towards the end of the game and were able to come back and steal the win beating the Lions by less than two goals.
On Saturday 24th October a short presentation was held at Bill Smyth Oval to present trophies to:
Below: Best and Fairest (Mathew Parker)
Below: Runners - Up Best and Fairest (Jacob Sultana and Oscar Newton)
Below: Best Team Player (Oscar Newton)
Below: Coaches Award (Samuel Matters) and
Below: Most Improved (Loic Riboulet “Frenchie”).
The weather, like the season was uncertain in the beginning but the rain held off just long enough for formal proceedings to be completed before pouring down and forcing everyone to hurry back to their cars and head home with enough time to get ready to watch the AFL grand final.
Thank you to the Narooma Lions Football Club for being so welcoming to all of the new players they recruited for the 2020 season, I know all of us are keen to run around in the Red Blue and Yellow next year. - Ben Hardie
