The past season has brought plenty of positives for the Cowra Senior Soccer Club, with the emergence of young talent, an improved atmosphere, and strong results across the men’s and women’s sides.
While challenges remain, particularly around facilities and volunteer numbers, the club is building momentum under new leadership.
Club President Drew Willis said the highlight has been watching fresh faces make their mark.
“Young players coming through, they’re making a good impression on the team,” Willis said.
“The increase in the club atmosphere probably is a good one as well,” he said.
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For Willis, the biggest hurdle comes down to facilities.
“With a winter sport, the weather is always a big challenge, and our facilities as well would definitely do with improving,” he said.
The lack of quality facilities has impacted both training and preparation, but game day performances have often been strong enough to overcome it.
Reflecting on his first season as president, Willis acknowledged the importance of spreading the workload.
“I can’t do everything,” Willis said.
“I need to ask for help when I need it, so it’s good to have many hands.”
“The aim will be to get more people involved next year, to make my life and other committee members’ life a bit easier, hopefully,” he said.
Volunteers, he said, are vital to the success of not just his own club, but grassroots sport in general.
“We just need more volunteers,” Willis said.
“That’s really what it comes down to.”
“Not even just our club, any club in general, volunteers are what they run on,” he said.
The season also showcased improvements across the grades.
“Definitely the men’s teams have improved,” Willis said.
“Obviously, as everybody’s probably aware, the women’s team is just phenomenal, like they have been for the last couple of years.”
“The Youth Men’s team has done really well this year, they’ve only lost two games all year.”
“Then the Senior Men’s team have also come back pretty strongly, and that’s with the help of coaching from Adam Gambrill, which really made a big difference,” he said.
The women’s side continued their strong reputation, while structured guidance for the men’s teams helped lift their performances throughout the year.
Off the field, Willis said the club has benefited from fresh leadership that has drawn players and supporters closer together.
“Probably having Adam in that leadership role has definitely brought more people to the club side of things as well,” Willis said.
“Getting people involved in actually coming to events, like after-game drinks and stuff like that, because that didn’t happen for a couple of years, really,” he said.
This renewed connection has helped strengthen the club’s chemistry, building a sense of belonging beyond just what happens on game day.
On-field, Willis praised his sides’ performances where it mattered most.
“The game day performances have been really good,” Willis said.
“Probably need a bit more training and stuff like that, but obviously that comes back to facilities.”
“We always perform on game day, so that’s always a good thing,” he said.
With further investment in facilities and training structures, Wilis believes the club can take another step forward in the future.
