Following a disappointing season, can Box Hill United bounce back and climb up the ladder in 2023?
Box Hill experienced a high volume of turnover at the end of 2022 with Bobby Zdravkovski being announced as the new Senior Women’s NPL Head Coach.
Zdravkovski has extensive playing and coaching experience at junior and senior levels and is well respected within the industry, renowned for setting high standards. He was the Technical Director of Female Football at BHUFC for two years and has previously coached Moreland Zebras, FC Bulleen Lions, and Northcote City FC.
In his first season in charge, Zdravkovski admitted it was a “slow start” for the squad.
“We started our pre-season in November, and have picked up some players and introduced some new faces into the squad,” he explained.
‘Pre-season has been good, but we have just had a bit of a setback in the past month, losing a couple key players to injury and probably won’t be ready by round one.”
With players going down to injuries, opportunities arise for others, and Zdravkovski has given his younger brigade a chance to shine in the pre-season to lock in a spot for Round 1.
“We have been putting a lot of youngsters into our pre-season games from our under 19s, a few 15- and 16-year-olds,” he said.
“The results in the pre-season matches haven’t gone our way but at the end of the day it is more important about getting minutes into the girls and playing good football.
“It is a thin squad of about 17 players on the senior list at the moment things are going slowly but we are improving week on week.”
Despite losing a number of players at the end of last year, Box Hill has been able to replenish their list with Japanese duo Asuka Doi (Bunnys Gunma FC White Star) and Kanna Moriya (Ange Violet Hiroshima) adding some much-needed experience to the squad.
“As I have inherited this group from the previous coach, we have lost a few layers and have had a fairly big turnover from last season’s squad,” Zdravkovski said.
“It has been tough at times trying to get players but I have inherited this squad and I want everyone to be given a chance and I have topped up where required.
“Asuka is a typical striker and she is a true professional and Kanna is more of a central midfielder who is an aggressive player but also very good technically.
“They come 45 minutes to an hour before a training session and do their own workout, they will bring the most out of the players that are around them.
“If anything, I think the majority of our squad is very young and it is good for our local players to see their professionalism and how they go about conducting themselves.”
Defender Cicily Paraskevas has joined the Club from Alamein, however will need to bide her time for her first match after suffering a quad injury.
“Cicily is a very good player technically very good, she keeps improving,” Zdravkovski stated.
Sienna Techera and Holly Tancin have also joined from FV Emerging and have made an immediate impact in Zdravkovski’s squad.
“Sienna is a fantastic kid, she’s a brilliant player that can play anywhere in the front three,” he explained.
“She can play as a striker, on the left or on the right, a very versatile attacking player. Her work rate off the ball is enormous and is one to watch out for at only 16.
“Holly has played every senior game over the pre-season and has been really exciting, she will be one that I take from the U19s and add to the senior squad, however she rolled her ankle in one of the pre-season matches and may miss the start of the season.”
Zdravkovski hasn’t set any specific expectations for the season ahead, however finals was an obvious ambition.
“I pretty much want to be competitive and take each game week by week,” he explained.
“I don’t want to focus on finishing in a specific spot, because if we are not getting those results, it may impact the team’s morale.
“Round one against Calder United, there is no bigger task, that has been our main goal all pre-season, we have nothing to lose.
“If we are competitive our results will speak for themselves and then we will take it to the next game and then you never know where we could end up.”
OPENING FIXTURES
Round 1: Box Hill v Calder United
Round 2: Box Hill v Southern United
Round 3: Box Hill v Boroondara