Glory for Senior Gunners

The Arsenal Seniors have successfully clinched the coveted GulfWeekly-Citroen sponsored Ladies First Division title and are gunning for a hat trick of victories in the upcoming season.

The footballing femmes held the golden trophy high as they were crowned champions in an awards ceremony at the Soccer City grounds in Hamala.

Captain Rama Salem, 27, from Riffa Views, said: “What an amazing season. That’s two seasons in a row undefeated!

“St Christopher’s Seniors had done it in the second and the third season of the competition. Now, the challenge is to see if we can keep it going for a third season.

“We won it because of the commitment of coming to training every week. It’s incredible. In the past, there was a lot of flakiness going on but these past two seasons the determination and commitment has been fantastic. Also, we have fun together.

“There isn’t as much pressure as before. If someone makes a mistake we do not come down on them, we encourage each other to keep going.

“We also know how to play together as we have been together for so long. We are so in sync that playing as a team is like second nature to us. I don’t have to call anyone’s name anymore. I just look up and know that they will be there.

“To ensure a treble victory or a hat trick for us, I believe we need to keep doing what we have been doing. This season has been great, the standard has excelled and it’s beautiful to see us finally playing really great football.  Every goal we have created this season we can be proud of. It was really hard work all the way through but well worth the effort.”

Joga TFA are runners up in the Arsenal Soccer School Bahrain Ladies League First Division and the Players of the Season accolade was shared by Sam Rule of Arsenal Ladies and Eleni Tsappis of Arsenal U21s.

Tsappis, 17, a student at St Christopher’s School, from Zallaq, is proud of her achievement and is looking forward to Season 9. She said: “It feels good to have won. I enjoyed the season and every match I played. I love my team. They are all such good players. “
A notable mention went to little Maggie Stephens, 10, of the Arsenal Gunners who is now the youngest goal scorer in the league.

Gunner Kia Hanahoe, 11, was the youngest scorer for more than a year. Her teammate, Gabrielle Schultz, 10, earned the title during a recent game against RCSI but only nine minutes later, slightly younger Maggie stole her thunder with a perfect strike.

The Bahrain School pupil from Zallaq had no clue that she had earned a mention in the record books. Stephens said: “I looked up and shot and next thing I knew I had broken a record. The coaches told me the news. It was a great feeling.

“I hope that someday though I can be voted Player of the Season like Eleni and Sam!”
In the Second Division, league title winners were the Arsenal U18s, the runners-up were Seef Dental and the Player of the Season award went to Terry Stevens of Seef Dental.

The new season is set to kick-off on April 22 with Arsenal Ladies, Joga TFA, Arsenal U21s and Seef Dental in Division 1. Division 2 will include Eastern Flames, RCSI, Arsenal Gunners and Venus.

Games will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays with kick-off at 7pm at Soccer City.

Deena Rahman, competition organiser, said: “The new format of divisions saw close and thrilling encounters throughout and we are very pleased with the development it has provided for our younger rising talent.

“Overall, the level of play in all teams is improving season after season. We would particularly like to thank GulfWeekly and Citroen for their on-going support with our league and are excited to start our new season soon.

“We would also like to welcome back Venus who took a season out of the league and they will be aiming to gain promotion this season.”