Youth join 13th football academyFOOTBALL prodigy Brandon Matera led a talented cast of teenagers as part of the 13th intake of the AIS/AFL Academy for 2009.
Matera, 17, the son of inaugural West Coast squad member Wally and nephew of Eagles stars Peter and Phil, won the call-up after his outstanding efforts for Western Australia at the AFL's under-18 national championships last month. Matera, comparable to a rangy winger-type just like his uncle Peter, was the tournament's leading goal-kicker (16) and was later named in the championships' All-Australian team.
Matera will be joined at the academy by fellow Indigenous footballers Gerald Ugle and Harley Bennell (Western Australia), Curtly Hampton (Northern Territory) and Chad Wingard (South Australia).
The teenagers will be sure to attract considerable interest from the Guy McKenna-coached Gold Coast Football Club -- the AFL's 17th team which will join the league in 2011. Gold Coast has rights to sign up to 12 17-year-olds this year.
The players form a 30-strong talent pool that the academy's high performance manager Jason McCartney says runs deep.
"The depth of talent in our junior ranks runs very strong and selecting just 30 players from the recent NAB AFL under-16 and -18 championships was very challenging," he said. "At the 2008 NAB AFL Draft, eight of the top 10 selections were graduates of the AIS/AFL Academy, highlighting that the program continues to develop high-class footballers both on and off the field."
The academy has spawned numerous stars of the game with graduates Shaun Burgoyne (Port Adleaide, 2004) and Des Headland (Brisbane, 2002) among several winning AFL premierships.
The latest squad will undergo an intensive 12-month training program from next month. The first camp will be held at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra on September 27.
DARREN MONCRIEFF
Darren@AboriginalFootball.com.au
Monday, August 3, 2009
* Updated: Mon. Aug. 10, 2009
Last Modified on 10/08/2009 19:18