THE Beerwah Glasshouse United Football club premier men’s side hasn’t won a game this year, but the team remains optimistic of turning the season around.
Team captain, Isaac Harrison, said a large part of their sluggish start has been due to strategy and the lack of cohesion between old and new players.
“We had to realise we aren’t going to be the fastest or have the most physicality, but we have got to start using our heads more,” he said.
“Some of the guys on our team are fresh faces and don’t have a rapport with the referees and other teams yet.
“I’m optimistic because with the right commitment levels, I think in a year we will be completely unrecognisable.”
Isaac said a positive for the team was the high number of siblings and Indigenous players, which made them unique to other men’s premier teams in the competition.
“There are about three or four pairs of siblings, and we also have seven Indigenous boys… There’s probably like one Indigenous guy in the other team, I think one team has got a Goanna’s player,” he said.
“It’s pretty cool, you sort of tip the balance in the team with the majority of people being Indigenous, a lot of boys ask questions about culture, it’s a real eye-opener for those players.
And Isaac hopes the strong presence of Indigenous men and women in the premier football teams at Beegee’s will influence other young Indigenous people to try football over other sports.
“I think we are trying to be a community, a focal point for Indigenous people is to maybe consider football, instead of AFL or rugby, which is what we are more associated with,” he said.
“11 per cent of rugby and AFL players are Indigenous, which is pretty crazy since we are only 2.8 per cent of the population.
“There’s a lot of opportunity in football nationally as opposed to the other sports.”
For their upcoming match against Caloundra FC, who are currently fourth on the ladder, Harrison said they were aiming to remained focused for the full game and not lose their team structure.
“This game, we are just going to hopefully keep the same formation going that we’ve been working on all season and play with our heads,” he said.
“We need to keep it steady, think positive and keep talking to your teammates.”
The Beegee’s premier men’s team ended up drawing 1-1 with fifth placed Caloundra FC. Beerwah remains at the foot of the ladder in 9th place.