Melbourne’s
most promising under 18 female players have been vying for selection in one of
the four interleague teams that will participate in AFL Victoria’s Metropolitan
Junior Championships next month. Girls from Bendigo and Geelong are about to
begin selection training for the inaugural Youth Girls Country Championships
that will be played as part of the VCFL’s V Line Country Cup in June.
The
Metropolitan Junior Championships bring together the best talent from
Victoria’s metropolitan leagues for Under 14 and 15 boys and under 18 Youth
Girls players. With the cream of the Victoria’s Youth Girls talent playing in
the competition, Victorian selectors and coaches will be watching on eagerly. Exciting
newcomers Jasmine Garner (Western), Adriana Piva (Eastern) and Steph De Bortoli
(Eastern) will be looked at closely, whilst the class of Ellie Blackburn
(DDJFL), Chloe McMillan (DDJFL), Mandi Watts (Western) and Jess Dal Pos (Northern,
pictured) will be a key feature of the competition. In addition, the Dandenong
District Junior Football League (DDJFL) will have three sisters playing
alongside one another, with identical twins Georgia and Sarah Punton joined by
younger sister Jasmine for the first time at representative level.
This year
is the third year that the Youth Girls competition has been integrated into the
Championships. The Eastern competition will make their debut, with teams from
the northern, western and DDJFL Youth Girls rounding out the fixture. Three
rounds of competition will be played from the Queen’s Birthday weekend until
June 23, The Grand Final will be played at Preston’s NAB Oval on July 3.
The
evolution of Youth Girls football in Geelong and Bendigo has seen the creation
of a new Youth Girls Country Championships. The Bendigo girls competed in the
Metropolitan Championships in 2008 and 2009, however the new Country Championships
will allow them to now play against their regional counterparts from Geelong.
This exciting new initiative will give girls in Geelong their first opportunity
to showcase their skills, and will give many boys from the VCFL their first
glimpse of female football.
Feedback
from previous competitions about such integration continues to remain positive,
with parents, spectators and players all enjoying the opportunity to support
their local talented boys and girls together. Integration of these two female
competitions with their male equivalents will only continue to foster greater
respect between male and female players, and provide the Youth Girls
competition with valuable exposure.
AFL
Victoria’s Metropolitan Championships: June 12,14, 23; July 3,10
VCFL’s V
Line Country Cup: June 28-30
For more
information about AFL Victoria’s Youth Girls competition: www.youthgirls.aflvic.com.au
Last Modified on 11/06/2010 15:21