In 2020, finals appearances are far from the main measure of success.
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When plenty of teams couldn't get on the field, East Wagga-Kooringal's under 13s were the Hawks' only competitive-aged football team this season.
And the Farrer League's hibernation meant they were also the most senior side representing the Gumly club.
The young Hawks won't be in this weekend's semi-finals but coach Chris Howard said there was plenty to like.
"Last year we made the first round of finals but this year we were a little bit unlucky. We had a few players out because of COVID, that slowed us up a little bit," coach Chris Howard said.
"But we had a good season. It's a really good bunch and it's a really good little club actually. A lot of people rave about the bigger clubs but forget about the little ones."
The Hawks under 13s started on a high when they kicked 15 goals in a big win against Wagga Tigers in round one.
They also enjoyed a victory against North Wagga and weren't far away against The Rock-Yerong Creek.
Riley Howard in the ruck and Skipper Pigram, who had a key role in the backline, were recognised with the team's two awards and Jack Stockton was also strong throughout the year.
Although EWK went down at Coolamon at the weekend, they put four goals on the board and the Hawks will head into next year positive after having a crack all year.
The Hawks are also looking forward to Brendan Schumack's under 11s progressing to a competitive age group next season, while their Auskcilk
EWK's 13s netballers narrowly missed finals despite a good finish to the year.
They rounded out their season with wins against Wagga Swans and Coolamon to be the club's best-performed team.
"They're a great bunch of girls. They were pretty new together this year so we didn't know what to expect but we gelled together towards the end of the season and came home pretty strong," coach Cassie Moore said.
"We've had a couple of wins, a couple of really close ones and a couple of very hard games too."
Moore said it was too hard to single out individuals, praising the efforts of all players in a short season in which teamwork was key.
"Playing together and giving each other support on the court is one thing we worked on, being a fairly new team - making sure that we're all encouraging each other and sticking together," Moore said.
EWK also had under 10s and under 12s in action this season. Netball coordinator Lyn Nelson said it was pleasing to see the teams enjoy a year on the court when it had looked in danger of collapsing.
"They had a great time. They thought it was really good and we tried to make it fun," Nelson said.
"It was a tough year. We were virtually having five sides and had to revert to three so they did well considering we had to get them together at the last minute... I think they're all coming back and hopefully we get some more back for next year."
The Wagga and District Juniors semi-finals are on this Sunday at Gumly Oval and McPherson Oval with the winners to qualify for next Sunday's grand finals.
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