ADF soccer sides climb corporate ladder

By Pte John Wellfare

ADF soccer teams blitzed the competition at the NSW Corporate Games recently, achieving finals wins in both the women’s and the men’s over-30s divisions, with the open men’s team reaching the quarter finals.

Defence entered five teams in all three divisions of the competition, with three teams competing in the women’s division and one team in both the open men’s and the men’s over-30s.

The ADF teams are held in high regard at the Corporate Games, which saw Defence secure all three trophies last year.

Capt Brendan Smith, team captain for the open men’s team said a shortage of players this year contributed to their defeat at the hands of Audi Australia, in the quarter finals played at Marconi Oval, Sydney.

“We were probably fairly unlucky, some teams have as many as 15 players and we were playing with only 10,” he said.

Capt Smith praised the team on its performance under the tough conditions, with the players having never trained together prior to the competition.

“The first game was the first time the team as a whole had played together,” he said.

“All of the players are skillful enough to know what to do, so you’re not having to teach anyone how to play the game.”

Capt Smith attributed much of the team’s ability to overcome the player shortage and lack of preparation to the players’ ability to work as a team.

“The players were able to focus on playing for each other and not as individuals,” he said.

WO2 Nigel Lister, the ADF Female soccer coach and player in the men’s over-30s team said physical fitness and teamwork were strong contributors to the success of the ADF in the competition.

“One of our biggest assets is our fitness,” he said.

“We also seem to have the ability to mould and connect very quickly.”

Defence teams dominated the women’s competition, which saw the final played out between two of the three ADF women’s squads.

“We had some very good hard physical games, the girls were very strong compared to the other teams,” WO2 Lister said.

WO2 Lister also praised the work of the men’s over-30s team, which remains undefeated over six years of competing in the Corporate Games.

He said the skill level of other teams in the competition varies from year to year, always in the medium to high range.
The NSW Corporate Games is an annual event, which sees teams posted by dozens of Australian Corporations.

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