Country girls in Victoria will now have access to their own Youth Girls Academy in a new AFL Victoria initiative.
The North Ballarat Rebels TAC Cup club will host the AFL Victroria’s Country Youth Girls Academy providing facilities, coaching staff and administration, as well as a playing strip. The inaugural squad of twenty-five of Victoria’s most promising under 18 footballers from Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and Warrnambool will undertake an on and off field development program emphasising the importance of being a good person first and foremost.
AFL Victoria’s establishment of the Country Youth Girls Academy aims to provide more accessible high performance opportunities for more girls, particularly for those in regional Victoria. Furthermore, the Academy will serve as a high performance development program geared towards the introduction of an Under 18 Victorian Country representative team at the AFL’s National Youth Girls Championships in 2013.
The program will begin with fitness testing in late January before the girls meet up with their metropolitan Academy peers for a weekend Community Camp in Albury-Wodonga in February. The Community Camp will see the players and umpires undertake community service, engage with local media, leadership development, fitness training and football training. The girls will also conduct a free super clinic for all girls in the region on the Sunday before closing the camp with an intra squad exhibition match providing selectors with their first opportunity of the year to observe potential State players under match conditions. The remainder of the Academy program will see the girls undertake a series of monthly training sessions at Eureka Stadium until July.
North Ballarat Rebels assistant coach, Shaun O’Loughlin, has been appointed as the Academy coach, whilst AFL Victoria’s Regional Development Manager, Tim Shearer, will manage the delivery of the program.
The inaugural Country Youth Girls Academy squad:
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Abby Cummins
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Ballarat
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Allara Jennings
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North Bendigo
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Amanda Gavin
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Warrnambool
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Breeanna Gaylor
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Huntly
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Bridie Mitchell
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Barwon Heads
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Erin Kirkpatrick
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Eaglehawk
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Eve Aulsebrook
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Warrnambool
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Georgia Watson
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Warrnambool
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Grace Campbell
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Huntly
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Jenna Bruton
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Golden Point
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Kelsey Perry
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Warrnambool
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Liz Drake
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Ballarat
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Lori Stepnell
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Ballarat
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Maddison Janssen
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South Barwon
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Madisen Maguire
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Matthew Flinders
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Nyleak Dop
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Barwon Heads
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Penny Smith
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Warrnambool
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Riley Shapter
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Matthew Flinders
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Tayla Ryan
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Warrnambool
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Vanessa Lewicki
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Leopold
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Last Modified on 12/01/2012 14:30
