PERSISTENCE and belief are two reasons why the Brimbank under 16 team is the Football Federation Victoria West Division champion for 2005.
It has been a long journey to the top for the group, most of whom have played together for the past five years and have risen from easy beats to untouchables under the guidance of coach Andrew Sama.
In fact, Brimbank was so dominant this year that it had the premiership title wrapped up well before the season finished.
After finishing fourth last year the under 16s made a team goal to challenge for the premiership in 2005, a task set up with a run of 15 unbeaten matches from the start of the season until the thirdlast round.
Brimbank suffered its first and only loss to Altona Magic in the secondlast round, but by then it could afford to take the foot off the pedal.
“I’ve had the team for five years, a team which really nobody wanted back in the under 12s,” Sama said. “I took them on and we’ve just gone through the ranks.
“We put a plan in place and it’s all come together this year. It’s sad to say they weren’t a good side back then.
“To me, what makes a good coach is to take a team and build them up to make a good team out of them.
“To me, winning is not everything.”
Sama said it had not been easy keeping the group together in the tough early days in the under 12s, but constant encouragement and a belief they could improve had finally paid off.
“It hasn’t been easy. They were always getting beaten week in, week out. You’ve got to make them believe in themselves,” he said.
“They’re a great bunch of boys. (Under 16 is) one of the worst age groups to coach and it’s very hard to keep the same bunch of boys together.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time with them and we hit it off straight away.”
The success of the under 16s has rubbed off on the entire club, with at least five teams claiming premierships in the junior divisions this year.
The entire squad will travel to the Football Federation Victoria presentation dinner on 14 September to collect the premiership pennants, and the majority will take a rest before embarking on next season’s under 17 campaign.
