It has been a busy period for footballers from the Capricornia Region with Male and Female Footballers, both Junior and Senior, being recognised all across the state.
6 Under 17 representatives were selected to travel to Townsville to take part in a Central/Northern Queensland team which was made up of Footballers from Capricornia, Mackay and Townsville. Caleb Bird, Casey Snitzerling, Nick Hay, Zanna Stevenson (Yeppoon), Trey Dummet (Gladstone) and Deandre Waia (Panthers) all headed North to take on an Under 17 Goldfields (Ballarat Region) Team from Victoria. The Goldfields boys were a very slick outfit and as was pointed out by the coaching staff of the visiting team, the best squad they have ever had together, and for far to classy for our guys. The Goldfields team were quick out of the blocks and to our boys credit they worked hard and matched it with the visitors in the second term but as the game wore on the Goldfields ran away with the match. All our guys put in a strong display on the night with Nick Hay named amongst the best.
After this it was off to Airlie beach for our U14 boys for the North Queensland Championships and the lads did a fantastic job under the guidance of Dean Bauer and Dale Sparkman. It was one of our best performances as a region and this was recognised when it came to selection time with 7 boys being selected in the North QLD Kookaburras. Pslamoi Gristwood, Matthew Hill, Tyreece Ahmat, Ethan Bird, Jordan Jacobsen, Xavier Mason and Jason Stanhope were all recognised for their outstanding efforts over the weekend. This is a promising sign for the future of footy in our Region.
After this it was off to the Gold Coast where a couple of our most talented female footballers of the region were off representing the State in the Under 18 QLD Female team. Uma Brennan, of the BITS Saints, and Zeceisha Oakley, of the Brothers Kangaroos, have reached extrodinary heights in Women's footy and were about to get a taste of the competition from across the Country. In what has been said to be one of the most competitive carnivals held at this level of Women's Footy it was a fantastic opportunity and experience for both girls. The Highlight of the tournament was undoubtedly when the QLD team knocked off the more fancied Vic Metro team. With the Gold Coast Suns to enter a Women's team in the AFLW in 2020 this is was a great opportunity for the girls to show case their abilities in front of scouts for all over the country and both girls certainly put their best foot forward and represented our region with pride.
Staying in Sout East QLD we were off to the Fifth installment of the annual NQ Vs SQ match in the Senior Mens. Including Competitions such as Cairns spots in this team are extremely hard to come by so it is full credit to BITS, Danny Conway, and Glenmores, Tim Higgins, who were recognised for their efforts this year with selection in the NQ team. The match, played at the home of the Aspley Hornets, was only display after a NEAFL match and was a fast paced match with little between the two teams. With former AFL players such as Aaron Davey, Melbourne Demons, and Rahn Hooper, Brisbane Lions, involved in the NQ & SQ teams respectively this would have been a fantastic experience for all players involved. It wasn't until late in the final quarter that the SQ team were able to finally stamp their hold on the match and run out winners by a couple of goals and take a lead in the contests 3 to 2.
Finally we head back up North where our U14 and U17 girls headed up to Airlie Beach for the North QLD Championships. We had a great showing in both age groups with Plen ty of numbers putting their hands up for selection through the trial process. Comming up against some top quality girls from all the regions was always going to be a tough ask but all girls showed great spirit and never gave up. It was a big challenge for our Under 14 girls who came up against some really classy players from the Northern Regions and whilst they didn't have the success on the scoreboard the spirit could not be questioned and this spirit was rewarded when Tierney Burke (Gladstone) and Brooke Sheridan (BITS) were named in the U14 Kookas. The U17 girls had more success on the field with a couple of wins and this was reflected with 8 girls being named in the Kookas team. Well done to Shontay Hockley, Josie Anderson (PAnthers), Zeckeisha Oakley, Holly Clarke, Alexis Williams, Sara Jane O'Grady (Brothers) Jada Hart (Gladstone) and Sophie Ure (BITS) who were all selected to represent NQ at the State Championships.
Last Modified on 16/07/2018 19:33