The Under 12.3 Girls Media Crew, ably led by young Ashley, put together this terrific report of the girls' weekend at the Melbourne Tigers Tournament. Although not the most successful weekend on the scoreboard, the continued efforts of the girls in the face of adversity made them all winners.

Falcons 12-3 girls were delighted to join in a mixed Falcons under 12 team with representatives from  the  development squad and a special guest from the 12-1 team. Georgie, Gen, Ella and Ashley welcomed Annie, Jas, Mia and Olivia K from the development group. They were ably assisted by Chelsea from 12-1 Falcons, showing her skills and style.  Assistant coach Sophie (out injured) helped coach Andrew (Drew) Kelly guide the team through the tough matches.  The team faced opposition from Friday night teams who are playing a grade level above in the regular competition, sometimes two. 

Georgie demonstrated her usual athletic all over push through;despite a painful thumb injury; Gen, her strong defensive skills on opposition giants & bravery; Ella, her speed down the court straight to the key (often for a basket opportunity);  and Ashley, her tight defence to achieve turn overs. Through fierce play and key match ups,  Chelsea demonstrated her box out and speedy return of the ball to the Falcons end, delivering a lesson in text book lay ups. 

Proving their development skills, Olivia demonstrated great strategic positioning and impressive two pointers and Mia fast grabs and hard bounce passes straight under the opposition's noses. Showing size doesn't always matter, Jas and Annie pushed down the court often running ahead of the pack  for incredibly fast lay ups, down court passes and two pointers. 

A lesson from level one team Eltham late Friday was motivating for the team  to play above expectations to stay in the game early Saturday.  In a close match with top team, Nunawading, the Falcons  stayed competitive all the way, going down only by four points on the whistle. The strong Melbourne Tigers proved challenging, but the team put in a top effort until the final siren.

The final round saw the team coming together better, despite impressive Eltham set plays and accuracy. The score didn't reflect the improvement of the team -  which they decided was the point of the tournament.

Thanks to team manager Angela Dawson for making it all work and to coach Drew for making a tough draw a positive learning experience for these talented up and coming  players.  Acting as coach with Alisa, Ange also saw the Falcons through their Melbourne Tigers Saturday night match.

The team says they did well in defence, and sometimes good offensive play.  They enjoyed themselves, although they felt a bit tired!