GEELONG Region Football Committee (GRFC) is poised to send a full complement of Boys’ representative teams to this year’s Victorian Country Championships, with teams in two out of the three age groups in the Girls’ category also to be fielded.

This is a dramatic increase on last year, when just three teams were fielded for the first time after a hiatus of several years of the local region not fielding teams in the annual Youth carnival.

According to Geelong Rep Squads Co-Ordinator Pete Bradley, from GOFC Coaching which is managing all the Rep teams, the Trials for all the age groups have been set down for the first three weeks of February.

“Healthy player registrations have been recorded for most age groups of the Boys’ section, with more players sought for the U14s, U15's and U16s teams,” explained Bradley.

“With regards to the Girls, more players are needed for all teams (U12s, U14s and U16s), with the U14s age group the most critical with only six players having registered for the Trials, there is also a need for U12 and U14 goalkeepers."

A development squad of 24 will be selected from the trials and then this will be cut down to the final 16 after a series of training sessions.

“In the event there are less than 24 players registered for each age group, there we will not be a Trial held, rather a fun based introduction training session will be staged for the group,” Bradley said.

‘We are also looking for referees for the tournament, so if there are any refs out there who may be interested in officiating at the tournament, then please let us know. They will receive $500 for the weekend,” Bradley added.

The Victorian Country Championships provide a chance for GRFC league based players to represent the region with and against kids of similar ability.

According to Bradley, playing in such a tournament environment teaches the kids the best ways of recovery, injury prevention and the importance of rest and nutrition.

“It’s a great weekend for the families to spend quality time together and for the players and parents from various clubs to meet and integrate.

“It’s also a great opportunity to develop talented up and coming coaches (including female coaches) by giving them practical experience in a tournament environment,” concluded Pete Bradley.

As always, the tournament is held over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in June. This year’s event will be staged in the Gippsland town of Morwell, which once hosted the Eastern Pride/Morwell Falcons in the now defunct National Soccer League.

For more details about the Geelong Rep squads, contact Pete Bradley via email at:coaching@gofc.com.au