BENDIGO Strikers championship coach Tracey Brereton has praised her VNL players' commitment and dedication in their first few months together.
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With players enjoying a hard-earned break over the Christmas-New Year period following their first block of training and strength and conditioning in November-December, Brereton has taken time to reflect on a whirlwind first few months since the Strikers were granted a Victorian Netball League licence in August and her appointment about a month later.
She declared the early progress as heartwarming and hopefully a sign of great things ahead in the countdown to their debut season.
"The buy-in has just been fantastic, they are just getting stuck in," Brereton said.
"(High performance coach) Paddy Blood has got them going and they are looking fit.
"I'm really happy with them. And there are some girls in the 23s that are doing it too.
"But until we start playing, it's all happy days now, but let the happy days continue.
"I think we have put in a really good chunk of training pre-Christmas. It's always a little bit tricky trying to get everyone together.
"But after Christmas, we only really have 14 sessions before our first game, so it's it going to be all systems go when we get back to training. But I'm really excited about some of the things I am seeing at training.
"It's a well-balanced group across the court, the championship squad, and both teams are shaping as being really threatening in VNL."
Equally as pleasing for Brereton as the player buy-in has been the response from the netball and wider community.
The inaugural Strikers coach said the early feedback and talk about the new club in the community had been overwhelming and likely crucial to the club's long-term viability and success.
She is eagerly awaiting the next phase in the team's countdown to its season opener against Southern Saints on April 6, when training resumes in Bendigo on January 17.
Meanwhile, Strikers 23-and-under head coach Jayden Cowling said he too was happy with the early progress of his squad.
"We've only had two or three on-court training sessions together, but the glimpses of match-play and drills we have seen have been exciting," he said.
"Once the girls have their Christmas-New Year's break, they will be fired up to get more match-play specific.
"Away from the match stuff, they are all looking really fit. They've really been putting in the hard yards with their strength and conditioning.
"That's the next step for these girls, who haven't really been exposed to strength and conditioning, having that proper weights program and a good running program that they can go off and do. Not only for the 23' girls, but the champs girls too.
"I see them (championship players) more often and their fitness has just gone to another level too."
Extra pleasingly for Cowling, given the cross-section of country football-netball leagues represented within the squad, the group has gelled rapidly and strongly.
"It's amazing to see. Our whole 23s squad is regionally-based, albeit from all different parts from regional Victoria," he said.
"We may be starting from scratch as a playing group, but we are starting to build a culture.
"We are already doing stuff away from the court as a playing group and building what we want the Strikers brand to look like.
"All the girls are contributing and we can feel we are building something special within the group."
