Sunday 1st September, AFL Queensland recognised the individual performances of Players and Volunteers from the 2019 AFL Capricornia Youth Competition when it hosted it's Annual Awards presentation at the Frenchville Sports Club.
AFLQ Club & Competition Manager, speaking at the event, was overwhelmed by the support of the Local Clubs and parents.
"This is the second year we have hosted the Event at this venue and to see numbers grow on our initial year is a great reflection of the dedicated Youth Footballers we have in our Region and the great support that they receive from their Clubs, Parents and supporters"
"It's great to be able to host this special day for the Kids in such a fantastic venue and allows us further opportunity to give back to the Frenchville Sports Club who has done so much for our game over recent years", Matheson said.
It was a big day for the BITS Saints who took a clean sweep of the major awards across all 3 Youth divisions, but it wasn't without some stiff competition from others across the competition as the crowd were kept on the edge of their seats with some very close counts.
The day kicked off with the Under 13 Vote Count with Brothers youngster Caden Ruff polling votes on a regular basis to keep his name a top of the leaderboard for most of the count. However it was some outstanding late season form by BITS Saints tall, Max Marsh, that saw him finish the season with a flourish and a best on ground performance in the final round saw him take out the Award 2 votes clear of Ruff. Brothers, Ryan Skuthorp, finished the year as leading Goal Kicker in the Under 13 Competition.
The Under 15 Competition took centre stage and it was a back and forth battle between Saints, Jordan Jacobsen, and Hamish McDonald from the Rockhampton Panthers. After 10 Rounds only 1 vote separated the pair with Jacobsen narrowly holding the lead. Again it was some consistent form over the last 3 matches for Jacobsen that saw him take out the top honour whilst it was also a case of late season form from Swans excitement machine, Matt Hill, that saw him leapfrog McDonald in the final round to take out hte Runners Up Trophy 5 votes behind Jabsen. Cooper England, from the Rockhampton Panthers, had a remarkable season up forward with the youngster recording in excess of 100 goals in the season to take out the Leading Goal Kicker Award.
The Final count of the day was the Under 17's and it was looking like yet another nailbiting count was on the cards with BITS team mates, Ryan Shanks & Mason Gates, sharing the votes early to sit 1 and 2 on the leaderboard after round 5. But it was Gates who asserted his dominance over the competition and polled votes on a regular basis to stream ahead of the rest of the field. Shanks had a firm grip on 2nd place although their was a few nervous moments when a late surge came from Glenmore's Cyron Tull, however Shanks did enough to hold on to 2nd place in the count edging out Tull by 1 vote. It was Mason Gates how was the clear winner finishing an amazing 12 votes clear of his Boyne Island team mate. Leading Goal Kicker for the Under 17 competition was Yeppoon Swans full forward Mitchell Greig.
2019 AFL Capricornia Youth Award Winners
Minor Premiers
Under 13: Brothers Kangaroos
Under 15: Rockhampton Panthers
Under 17: Yeppoon Swans
Leading Goal Kickers
Under 13: Ryan Skuthorp, Brothers Kangaroos (25)
Under 15: Cooper England, Rockhampton Panthers (104)
Under 17: Mitchell Greig, Yeppoon Swans (66)
Sandra Dunnett Memorial Shield (U13 Volunteer Of The Year)
Thomas Tull, Brothers; Nick Osborne, BITS; Telisha Howard, Yeppoon; Zane Blackborough, Glenmore; Jaykob Kenzler, Gladstone; Mali Harris, Panthers
Don Pollock Shield (U15 Volunteer Of The Year)
Riley Hay, Brothers; Luke Trezise, BITS; Alex Pullan, Yeppoon; Jackson Ivey, Glenmore; Jackson McKay, Gladstone; Calin Jackson, Panthers
Dave Sparkman Shield (U17 Volunteer Of The Year)
Ben Fisher, Brothers; Darcy Judd, BITS; Lochlan Caldwell, Yeppoon; Jayren Willie, Glenmore; Blake Francis, Gladstone; Tyson Hawke, Panthers
Under 13 Best & Fairest
Winner: Max Marsh, BITS AFC (27 Votes)
Runner Up: Caden Ruff, Brothers AFC (25 Votes)
Under 15 Best & Fairest
Winner: Jordan Jacobsen, BITS AFC (22 Votes)
Runner Up: Matt Hill, Yeppoon AFC (17 Votes)
Under 17 Best & Fairest
Winner: Mason Gates, BITS AFC (27 Votes)
Runner Up : Ryan Shanks, BITS AFC (15 Votes)
Last Modified on 13/09/2019 16:56