AFL Victoria is pleased to announce the Latrobe City Council as the host of the 2015 V/Line Cup and Subway Shield, marking a new era of junior representative football in country Victoria.
AFL Victoria General Manager Steven Reaper and AFL Gippsland Region General Manager Travis Switzer joined representatives from the Latrobe City Council at the Gippsland Power Centre of Excellence today to make the announcement.
The landmark representative carnival for country Victorian U15 boys and Youth Girls (currently U18), will be played in Grand Final week next year (Monday 28 September – Thursday 1st October) at venues in Morwell, Traralgon and Moe.
The structure of the tournament has also been altered and will include regionally-based teams which are more aligned to the existing TAC Cup regions.
Teams that participated in previous years, such as Ballarat, South West, Hampden, and Wimmera/Mallee will unite and fall under the banner of the Rebels, while Sunraysia, Central Murray and Bendigo will combine as the Pioneers.
These changes are likely to be supported by regionally based representative trials to be held earlier in the year that will result in 14 teams, aligned to the six existing country TAC Cup regions, competing across two divisions.
Previously played in March or April, the move to the Grand Final Week will allow the TAC Cup regions and TAC Youth Girls Academies the best possible opportunity to select the most talented players for their respective U16 and Youth Girls Squads.
AFL Victoria General Manager Steven Reaper said the V/Line Cup had traditionally been the first taste of representative football for many of the AFL’s biggest names.
“Players like Joel Selwood, Dyson Heppell, Jarryd Roughead and, more recently, Ollie Wines, first rose to prominence in the V/Line Cup and the carnival continues to be the breeding ground for the best talent in country Victoria,” he said.
The Subway Shield is expected to include eight Youth Girls teams in 2015 with local side the Gippsland Power out to go one better after they were narrowly defeated in their first Subway Shield in 2014.
AFL Victoria General Manager Steven Reaper said it was exciting to see the Carnival held exclusively in a regional location for the first time.
“The V/Line Cup and Subway Shield (Youth Girls) have traditionally been held in Melbourne and we are looking forward to having the whole football community in the Latrobe City Council get behind it next year.
“The success of holding the AFL Youth Girls National Championships in Shepparton in 2013 encouraged us to look at moving the V/Line Cup and Subway Shield to a regional centre such as Latrobe.
“This move provides more dedicated local resources to help manage and promote the carnival, and may also pave the way for extra initiates to support the event.
“The Latrobe City Council has a fantastic record of hosting significant sporting events and their support and that of Federation University will give players, coaches and supporters access to a number of first class sporting and leisure facilities.
“The new facility at the Morwell Recreation Reserve, the base for the Gippsland Power, is the best underage high performance facility of its kind in Australia and importantly teams will have access to this during the carnival.”
Latrobe City Council’s mayor, Councillor Dale Harriman, said the event was a real coup for Latrobe City.
“This is a great opportunity for our young footy players to see a major sporting event held locally. Future champions of the sport could be amongst the ranks of junior athletes who take part in this tournament, and who knows, one of them may be a local player.
“Along with the chance to see some great footy action and to be inspired by players of the future, the economic and social benefits generated by this event for our local community will also be significant. Latrobe City Council looks forward to continuing a close working relationship with AFL Victoria to ensure that the event is a great success,” Cr Harriman said.
V/Line Regional Manager Tim Pianta said he was thrilled that the V/Line Cup was moving to regional Victoria next year.
“We are delighted that the Latrobe Valley was selected to host the first V/Line Cup outside of Melbourne and have no doubt that Gippslanders will throw their support behind the players, coaches and support staff.”
Last Modified on 17/11/2014 10:36