THE Horsham Demons returned to City Oval for round three of the Female Football League on Sunday but could not manage a win against a strong Portland Tigers.
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After three rounds the side has managed just one win but the focus for Terry Arnel’s young group is on improvement and continuing to enjoy the game.
“We come up against sides that have spent more time together, have more experience and have older bodies,” Arnel said. “There was improvement again on Sunday. We are really concentrating on our ball movement at the moment, we want to run the ball more because that is what other sides have done well against us.”
Each round in the eight week regular season provides the side with an opportunity learn more about how it compares.
Arnel said he can take something out of each game to focus on.
“It’s a new experience for everyone,” he said. “Every quarter we play we find out more about what we can do. There is a lot of information that we get and we take a measured approach to the feedback we provide, we don’t want to over-complicate things too early.”
It is also a learning curve for the side’s experienced coach.
“When you start using terms you have been using for years and you get blank stares you get a better sense of where everyone is coming from,” he said.
“This is starting from a real grassroots level. You need to talk to the players so that they understand and so that you can maintain their interest.”
Interest in the team and the overall competition has remained high approaching the halfway mark of the first season.
Each round the Demons have welcomed new players to games and training.
While the club has continued to attract new players as the inaugural season progresses, just as important is the response of the players that jumped at the opportunity from the start.
“The feedback I have been getting is that it is everything they had hoped for it to be and a little more,” Arnel said.
“That is a really positive thing for the competition.”
Arnel said player retention was important to the league moving forward.
“We have a lot of the players in the 13 and 14-year-old age group,” he said.
“If we keep them at the club over the next few years they grow together and it serves the competition well.
“So far everyone is still really enjoying it and they remain committed.”