Well, that’s a wrap! From the 8th – 10th of March, BMTA took to the fields at C.ex International Stadium in Coffs Harbour for the #reimagined Championships 2024. This was the first year BMTA competed as an affiliate and after a fantastic weekend, it is safe to say we'll be BACK. BMTA entered teams into the Women’s 20s, Women’s Opens, Women’s 27s and Mixed Open divisions, with two teams making quarter finals and one team coming out on top. BMTA are extremely proud of where our teams finished up and cannot wait to see what The Championship in 2025 brings. For now, keep reading for a wrap-up of each team.

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Women’s 20s

There was no time to sleep in for BMTA’s Women’s 20s team as they had early games each day. Clearly, the early bird gets the worm as the girls had a cracking first game at 8:40am against the HW Hornets, kicking off the event with a 6-3 win. One more win, one loss and one bye saw the conclusion of Day One for our Women’s 20s. The girls were back bright and early on Day 2, pumping some tunes as they warmed-up for their 9:20am game against the CQ Bulls. It was a low scoring game and the girls unfortunately lost 0-3. The girls faced another loss against the SWQ Swans however they remained in high spirits and finished Day Two with a 5-4 victory over the SC Pineapples. Competing in a humongous division of 14 teams, the girls played admirably to finish 4th in Pool B which secured them a place in the quarter finals against the UQ Rebels. It was a tough loss on Field 1 as the girls were defeated 6-4, however their quarter final performance is commendable and notably one of their most unified. With the conclusion of the tournament, Ella Denny was voted players player and Milli Watson was voted coaches player. Amazing work girls!

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Leading our Women’s 20s teams on this journey was Head Coach Leeanne Bauer and Assistant Coaches Blake Fowke and Tom Tran. This coaching team is as solid as it gets, and they certainly had their hands full. They were faced with last minute pullouts due to injury, knocks to the head and ankle injuries. Lily Tran, who ended up unable to play, still showed face and assisted the coaches with warm-ups and in the sub box. These last-minute pullouts saw Olivia Georgas-Moore courageously step-up and leave her Women’s 20s team to instead play in the Women’s Opens division. This was no easy task as Olivia had no time to train with our Women’s Open team however took on the challenge positively. The maturity and skill-level of our Women’s 20s girls must be noted as many are in fact only 16-years-old. Our Women’s 20s team always had smiles on their faces and were even seen making tik toks for TFA! Congratulations girls on your quarter final achievement, you should be so proud.

 

Women’s Open

BMTA’s Women’s Opens team came to Coffs Harbour ready to rumble. On Day One the girls had two strong wins against the ACT Raiders (8-3) and MOR Lions (8-2). They then came up against eventual finalists, SYD Scorpions, and suffered a tough loss (8-3). Our Women’s Opens team played in front of the camera for majority of their games but were unphased by the pressure. The Women’s Opens division at this year’s The Championships was an extremely competitive division. The draw saw our Women’s Opens team have their two toughest games on Day Two. The experience of Jenna Rowsell and Zelle Gillespie who are in Australia’s Women’s 27s team, helped the girls over the line against the SRN Rebels with a 6-4 victory. An intense battle between BMTA and SWQ Swans unfolded on Field 1 in the afternoon on Day Two which ended in a four-all draw. Chloe Nikola, who is in the Australian Women’s Open squad, played admirably scoring two of BMTA’s four tries, Meg Muir was also a standout in the middle. Our Women’s Opens team finished 3rd on the ladder in Pool A and were set to take on the SC Pineapples in a quarter final on Day Three.

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Back on the main stage, Australian Women’s Open squad member, Kat Stevens, lead her team out for the quarter final. It was an intense 32 minutes of game play and a low-scoring game. The SC Pineapples did bid our girls’ chance at a semi-final goodbye. Yet, having made it to a quarter final, the first year playing at The Championships as an affiliate, and in such a competitive division, is an amazing achievement. BMTA are extremely proud of the team’s performance. We cannot forget to mention David Crase (Head Coach), Levi Te Namu (Assistant Coach) and Tash Day (Manager), who were with the girls every step of the way, especially amidst many unforeseen injuries which left the girls with 13 players. Of these 13, Hannah Forbes was voted players player. Once again, BMTA are tremendously proud of your efforts and quarter final achievement. A huge congratulations to the girls and the coaching team.

 

Women’s 27s

BMTA are overjoyed to call our Women’s 27s team National Champions. We cannot express how proud we are of the girls for securing a win, it is very well deserved. The journey of our Women’s 27s team was one of commitment, challenges, companionship. To read the full story of how our Women’s 27s team came to be National Champions, click here.

 

Mixed Open

BMTA’s Mixed Open team certainly brought the passion and energy to The Championships 2024. From playing music at the tent, to highly motivating half-time chats, our Mixed Open team were always hyping themselves up to play. They were not afraid to call out their weaknesses or make big plays in the battle to win. At the forefront of this was Head Coach, Darrin Smith. Darrin certainly knew the importance of teamwork and keeping a positive mindset. The Mixed Open A division was full of fierce competition, but our Mixed Open team finished in 13th place after a strong win against Japan 8-6 in an entertaining Play Off. Congratulations on your performance over the three days players, it was most certainly memorable and admirable.

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#oneherd