NEWS - Scroll down to see these stories:
- 2017 Junior Interleague
- WRFL young guns in Vic Metro Squad
- WRFL Junior Competition partners
- Bontempelli named the Heartland Ambassador
JUNIOR INTERLEAGUE
Congratulations to all players listed below who have successfully made it into final WRFL Junior Interleague teams:
UNDER-15 GIRLS - players selected from the Werribee Football Club Under-15 competition
Training for above squads will remain the same.
2017 UNDER-13 INTERLEAGUE SQUAD
Congratulations to all players listed on the attached list who have successfully made it through to the next round of selections.
Training will resume on Monday 22 May @ Dempster Park at 6:00pm for those players who are listed.
For any players who have unfortunately not made the squad, thank you for your efforts over the past month and we wish you all the best for the remainder of the season with your local club.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SQUAD
2017 AFL Victoria Metro Junior Championships Fixture
Round 1: Wednesday 31 May
U14A - South East Juniors vs. Western Region FL - Heathbrae Recreation Reserve, Officer 8:15pm
U14B - South East Juniors vs. Western Region FL - Heathbrae Recreation Reserve, Officer 6:15pm
U15A - Western Region FL vs. South East Juniors - Dempster Park, Sunshine 8.15pm
U15B - Western Region FL vs. South East Juniors - Dempster Park, Sunshine 6.15pm
U15G - Essendon District FL vs. Western Region FL - Keilor Recreation Reserve, Keilor 7.30pm
Round 2: Saturday 10 June
U14A - Western Region FL vs. Riddell District FL - Wyndhamvale South Oval, Wyndham Vale 2pm
U14B - Western Region FL vs. Riddell District FL - Wyndhamvale South Oval, Wyndham Vale 12pm
U15A - Riddell District FL vs. Western Region FL - Riddells Creek Recreation Reserve, Riddells Creek 2pm
U15B - Riddell District FL vs. Western Region FL - Riddells Creek Recreation Reserve, Riddells Creek 12pm
U15G - Western Region FL vs. Eastern FL - Wyndhamvale South Oval, Wyndham Vale 10am
Round 3: Monday 12 June
U14A - Essendon District FL vs. Western Region FL - Overland Reserve, East Keilor 2pm
U14B - Essendon District FL vs. Western Region FL - Overland Reserve, East Keilor 12pm
U15A - Western Region FL vs. Essendon District FL - Ainsworth Reserve, West Sunshine 2pm
U15B - Western Region FL vs. Essendon District FL - Ainsworth Reserve, West Sunshine 12pm
U15G - Yarra Junior FL vs. Western Region FL - Koonung Reserve, Bulleen 12pm
2017 UNDER-13 INTERLEAGUE SQUAD
Congratulations to those players who are listed attached who have successfully made it through to the next stage of the Under 13 Interleague Program. Please ensure that you attend training next Monday.
For those players who unfortunately didn’t make it to the next stage of training, thank you for participating and all the best at your local club for the remainder of the season.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SQUAD
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2017 UNDER-14 INTERLEAGUE SQUAD
Congratulations to all players listed on the attached list who have successfully made it through to the next round of selections.
Training will resume on Wednesday 17 May @ Dempster Park at 5:00pm for those players who are listed.
For any players who have unfortunately not made the squad, thank you for your efforts over the past 2 months and we wish you all the best for the remainder of the season with your local club.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SQUAD
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WRFL YOUNG GUNS IN VIC METRO SQUAD
FOUR WRFL stars have been picked in the initial Vic Metro squad for the NAB AFL Under-16 Championships.
Altona Juniors star Emerson Jeka a, Ethan Bentley from Spotswood and Lachlan Rzanovski from Werribee Districts were selected in the squad. The trio are involved with the Western Jets in their Brad Johnson Squad.
Jeremy O’Sullivan from St Bernard’s was also selected. He is part of the Calder Cannons’ program.
Jeka and O’Sullivan were last year selected in the All Australian School Boys team (pictured below). Bentley and Rzanovski were also involved in the School Sport Australia championships.
This year’s Under-16 Championships will be held in June and July, with the Vic Metro team set to take on Vic Country on June 24 at Punt Road Oval at 11.30am.
The Vic Metro team will then travel to Queensland for the final two rounds of the Championships.
To see the Vic Metro and Vic Country squads, click here.
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WRFL Junior competition partners
Western Bulldogs Football Club
The League welcomes the Bulldogs decision to renew their longstanding partnership with the league for a further 2 years. This partnership includes the naming rights of the WRFL Junior boys Competition from the Under 9’s to the Under 15’s. All footies used in the Junior competitions, boys and girls, will use Bulldog branded footballs, and both the boys and girls Junior representative teams will wear the Bulldogs guernsey colours. The very successful Heartland award will continue recognising Good Sportsmanship during 2017 at all Junior boys and girls games up to Under 14’s.
Werribee Football Club
The league welcomes long term partner, the Werribee Tigers VFL Football Club, back in 2017. This year Werribee will be partnering the league’s new Junior Girls competition. More news about Mark and his team at Werribee’s involvement will feature in future editions of this record.
SEDA
SEDA who partnered the league for the first time in 2016 have returned to take on the Naming Rights of the WRFL’s Under 17 competition. SEDA’s sport education program will the focus of future communications in this record as well as other league communication vehicles.
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BONTEMPELLI NAMED HEARTLAND AMBASSADOR
NOW in its fifth season, the WRFL is pleased to announce the continuation of the WRFL-Western Bulldogs Heartland Award in 2017.
Each week throughout the home and away season, the Junior Heartland Award will be presented by the coach from the home team to one player from the opposition side, who they believe embodies the true essence of the game – that being: fair play, fun and respect for both the opposition and the umpires.
This year, Western Bulldogs premiership player and best and fairest winner Marcus Bontempelli will be the Heartland Ambassador.
If you win a Heartland Award make sure you register your unique code at the bottom of your certificate on the Western Bulldogs website to go into the draw to win the Ultimate Heartland experience with Marcus Bontempelli at VU Whitten Oval.
The Heartland Award will kick off this Sunday, April 9 for Round 1 of the junior fixture.
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WRFL LAUNCH UNDER-8 COMPETITION
ABOUT 75 junior footballers got the chance to play on Whitten Oval on Sunday as part of the launch of the WRFL’s newest competition, Under-8’s.
With six teams competing in the inaugural competition, the enthusiastic youngsters got the chance to walk in the footsteps of their Western Bulldogs heroes.
WRFL Football Operations and Club Development officer Tim Shellcot said it was a fantastic gala day.
“Everyone has come with the right attitude, everyone is having a lot of fun, coaches and umpires are doing the right thing,” he said.
Shellcot said the reason why the WRFL chose to introduce an Under-8 competition was because there needed to be a clearer pathway between Auskick and club football.
“There is a disconnect between Auskick and competitive club football, so the Under-8’s is a way of trying to bridge that gap,” he said.
“It is about trying to get players into club jumpers and get them more enthusiastic about playing competitive football and also trying to get them to become long term club players in the league.”
Shellcot said the Western Bulldogs Football Club have been a great supporter of the league for several years now.
“The Dogs have been a really good supporter of our junior competition for four or five years and they are keen to get involved with all younger age groups,” he said.
“They have opened up their facility and the ground to support the launch.”
Western Bulldogs Schools and Clubs coordinator Glenn Balmforth said it was great the club was able to give back to the local community.
“It is great that we can give back to the community through the WRFL and try and increase participation in the west and create a fantastic experience for the kids who one day could potentially play for the Western Bulldogs,” he said.
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AUSKICKER OF THE YEAR
Xavier Wursthorn was selected as the Round 1 NAB AFL Auskicker of the Year and will now get to enjoy a unique Grand Final experience.
The talented youngster got to play on the MCG as part of the half time AFL experience in the opening round of the season and at the end of the year will play a huge role on Grand Final Day.
Xavier’s father Matt said he had a wonderful time playing footy on the hallowed turf.
Along with the 21 other nominees, the Essendon fan will walk in the AFL parade, play on the MCG on Grand Final Day and present a premiership medal to the winning team.
The overall Auskicker of the Year winner will also receive a $5000 in a NAB Reward Saver account, while Geelong star Joel Selwood will be there footy mentor.
Matt said his son was looking forward to the experience.
“Presenting the medal to the winning team is something he will never forget,” he said.
“I am looking forward to it to, I’ve never been to a grand final and now we can go together and experience this amazing week.”
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