AFL NSW from strength to strength
Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 1:19 pm
YEAR IN REVIEW: HUNTER/CENTRAL COAST
In a bumper year for AFL in the Hunter and on the Central Coast, participation across Auskick, clubs, schools, and AFL 9s grew by more than 20 per cent.
Almost 12,000 people participated in AFL programs in the Hunter and Central Coast in 2013 for its biggest year yet.
In the juniors competition, Newcastle Juniors introduced Under-9s for the first time as the Muswellbrook Cats won their first-ever premiership in the Under-13s.
The nine Central Coast Junior Clubs all had an Under-9s team for the first time and both Newcastle and Central Coast Juniors expanded to Under-17s football.
Four all-female teams also participated in the inaugural Youth Girls Competition on the Central Coast.
In the Black Diamond AFL, Singleton were promoted from Division 1 to Premier Division and the Nelson Bay Marlins won their first senior premiership in Division 1.
There was plenty involvement from AFL stars on the Coast with 12 Sydney Swans players visiting the region in February for the Australia Post Community Camps.
Newcastle locals also got a chance to see elite AFL in July with more than 1500 people attending the Sydney Swans reserves v Eastlake Demons NEAFL game at Number 1 Sportsground in Newcastle.
11 Black Diamond players played as top-ups for the Swans, pulling on the famous red and white guernsey, with three continuing to play with the reserves side during the rest of the year.
QBE Swans Academy product Isaac Heeney (pictured) spent a chunk of the season with the Swans’ NEAFL side, and was selected in the AIS-AFL Academy’s level 2 squad.
A Multicultural Holiday Camp run in Newcastle also brought GWS GIANTS star Setanta O’Hailpin to town.
There were talent programs run at the Hunter Academy of Sport, Central Coast Academy of Sport, and Hunter Sports High School, as well as the Northern Coast TPP and Sydney Swans Academy programs.
In a first for the region, the inaugural AFL Beach 9s Competition was run at Redhead Beach and female football boomed with two Girls Auskick centres, and one Girls Youth AFL 9s run in the region.
Simon McCauley from Newcastle City was named the AFL NSWACT Auskick Volunteer of the Year while Chris Bishop from Terrigal-Avoca was named AFL NSWACT Coach of the Year.
Lachlan Head from Niagara Park was also named an All Australian Umpire at the National Schools Carnival in Darwin.
YEAR IN REVIEW: SOUTH NSW
Southern NSW’s reputation as a hotbed of AFL talent continues unabated, with five of the region’s former juniors making their AFL debuts during the 2013 season.
Southern NSW is one of the state’s largest football-focused regions, with more than 70 junior and senior clubs and 23,000 participants overall.
With almost 5,000 registered Auskickers, joined by thousands more children participating in Auskick clinics, the region is a key contributor to NSW/ACT boasting a higher Auskick participation rate than any other state.
The first game of the 2013 season was a NAB Cup clash held on March 2 between the Greater Western Sydney GIANTS and the Brisbane Lions. Played in front of a near-capacity crowd of 7068 at Wagga Wagga’s refurbished Robertson Oval, the match was a thriller and set an exciting tone for the season, with a Sam Michael goal snatching victory for the Lions in the dying minutes.
Among Southern NSW’s AFL debutants was Narrandera’s Zac Williams, who played his first game for the GIANTS in Round 5 and was the Round 19 nominee for the 2013 NAB Rising Star Award after starring in his side’s victory over Melbourne.
Sam Rowe, a North Albury junior, marked his courageous recovery after being diagnosed with testicular cancer last year, debuting for Carlton in Round 2 this year.
West Broken Hill’s Mitch Clisby and Osborne’s Dean Terlich both debuted for the Melbourne Demons this year, whilst Taylor Duryea made Wahgunyah proud, winning a Premiership with Hawthorn’s VFL side, being an emergency for the AFL Grand Final, and winning their Best First-Year Player award to boot.
The next generation of AFL players are also well stocked with Southern NSW players, with four of the region’s juniors participating in the National Draft Combine ahead of the 2013 NAB AFL Draft.
Southern NSW’s emphasis on developing opportunities for female football players was on show as Wagga Wagga hosted the inaugural Riverina Girls AFL Auskick Centre this year.
More than 150 girls aged between five and 13 participated in a six-week-long, girls-only Auskick centre, a fantastic turnout in the view of the Southern NSW region’s Participation Manager Marc Geppert.
“The promotion from our two female development officers was fantastic, which was an obvious reason in the success,” Geppert said.
“It gave the Wagga region a taste of female youth footy, with the view of establishing a Youth Girls’ competition in 2014.”
Geppert highlighted the inaugural Southern NSW GIANTS Cup as another important step in developing the game’s participation in the Riverina region.
“Over 20 teams in the Under-14s, 16s, Opens Boys and Under-15s and Opens Girls took part,” Geppert said.
“All four Southern NSW sub regions were represented in all age groups, and the use of the three premier AFL facilities in Robertson Oval, McPherson Oval and Maher Oval was a highlight for the kids.”
Che Jenkins, Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area’s Development Coordinator, said that the re-establishment of an Auskick program in Cobar was one of his year’s biggest successes.
“Auskick promotional clinics were run in the two primary schools of Cobar, and we ended up having more than 300 children participate,” Jenkins said.
“An AFL clinic was run at the Cobar Football Club, and that had 40 or so children turn out for it as well.”
“By helping to train Cobar Football Club personnel to coordinate the Auskick Program, we helped them secure more than 40 Auskick registrations.”
Jenkins also brought up the newly-created AFL Multicultural Program in Griffith as an example of the game’s ability to bring Southern NSW together. A six-week-long program, it allowed more than 20 children between the ages of five and 17 to learn the basics of AFL alongside visits to the tenpin bowling alley and the local cinema.
“Strong relationships were established with local government bodies, ensuring a positive future for the Multicultural Program in Griffith,” Jenkins said.
Fourteen nominations were received from clubs for the Merit Award across Southern NSW, with the nominees possessing a staggering combined total of 413 years’ service to Australian football.
YEAR IN REVIEW: SYDNEY/ILLAWARRA
AFL football boomed in Sydney and the Illawarra in 2013 with the region recording a monumental growth in participants of more than 25 per cent.
There were more than 45,000 men, women and kids playing AFL in Sydney and the Illawarra in 2013 as the code continues to go from strength to strength.
This year saw the start of the New AFL 9s competitions started in the western suburbs, northern beaches and southern Highlands and there was the introduction of the Sutherland Shire Combined Catholic Colleges (CCC) AFL competition.
There was also the introduction of a new team in to the AFL Sydney Women’s competition with the formation of the Maroubra Saints.
Independent Schools AFL competition on Saturday mornings with 10 teams from St Patrick’s College Strathfield, Knox Grammar, Waverley College, Cranbrook, St Ignatius Riverview and Trinity Grammar.
Three Public Schools Sports Association (PSSA) regions had an excess of 450 participants each while the Pittwater Auskick Centre doubled its participants from 50 to 100.
There was the commencement of All Suburbs Independent Schools Sports Association (ASISSA) competition made up of predominantly culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) schools and AFL NSW/ACT Sydney staff were involved in
Hornsby Council’s Multicultural Day with 80-100 participants resulting in 5-10 registrations for the local club.
Staff also ran a Holiday Camp for Korean students with more than 30 participants last school holidays.
Sydney South made a clean sweep at the Under 13/14s State Zone Trials against the best in the State and 36 kids were nominated for the QBE Sydney Swans Academy from Paul Kelly Cup competitions with 26 selected for the 2014 program.
There were six AFL debutants from the Sydney/Illawarra region in 2013 with Jarrod Witts (St Ives), Brandon Jack (Westbrook), Dane Rampe (Eastern Sydney), Craig Moller (Cronulla), Will Langford (East Sydney) and Will Sierakowski (St. Ignatius Riverview) all getting a taste of elite level AFL.
The state’s first-ever AFL synthetic facility was also opened at Narrabeen Sports High School this year.
YEAR IN REVIEW: GSJ
In an outstanding year, the Greater Sydney Juniors competition grew by more than seven per cent in 2013, following last year's growth of five perecent.
The 2013 season saw a growth of 7.65 per cent for the Greater Sydney Juniors (GSJ) competition with 11,051 participants across 65 clubs and 439 teams making it the largest junior competition in the state.
The Willoughby Wildcats JAFC in Sydney’s east is the biggest club in the competition, with 466 participants, ahead of East Sydney and Manly.
The Sydney Harbour Red Grand Finals demonstrated the depth of the competition, with 20 clubs represented across the 18 Grand Finals, where no club won more than two Premierships.
Maroubra was the highest represented club with four teams in Grand Finals.
Queenwood School for Girls took out the Under-16 Youth Girls competition, with more and more females taking up the sport after the introduction of another successful Youth Girls competition on the Central Coast. There are plans to introduce another competition in Newcastle next year.
Western Sydney held Grand Finals for the first time at SKODA Stadium with the Under-16 Grand Final played under lights.
2013 also saw the introduction of the AFL GSJ Club of the Year competition with Camden (Western Sydney), Lake Macquarie (Newcastle), Peninsula (Central Coast), Hornsby (Sydney Harbour Red), and Cronulla (Sydney Harbour White) all recognised for their achievements.
Retiring Regional Chairman David Burgess and former Newcastle Junior AFL President John Holmquest were awarded GSJ Life Membership at the AFL GSJ Annual Forum held at Kiama recently.
In talent news, Mosman’s Callum Mills was selected in the Level 1 AIS Academy, won the Carbine Club Scholarship, and was named Division 2 MVP at the NAB AFL Under-16 National Championships in Sydney.
QBE Sydney Swans Academy member Lloyd Perris, from St George, will also formally join the Sydney Swans in November, on a two-year rookie list contract.
YEAR IN REVIEW: NORTH NSW
AFL in Northern NSW continued to strengthen in 2013 with a growth of almost 10 per cent and a number of large events in the burgeoning region.
It was a year of change for AFL in Northern NSW with new initiatives helping the region record its highest participation numbers on record. In May junior and senior representative footy was conducted on the same day for the first time in Port Macquarie at Wayne Richards Park.
July saw all six AFL North Coast Senior clubs play in Coffs Harbour on a ‘Super Saturday’ event which concluded with a dinner where guest speakers from AFL NSW/ACT including Deputy General Manager Craig Bolton and State Operating & Major Projects Manager Joseph La Posta.
The region conducted its first multicultural program with 30 attendees and a number of these went on to play in the Coffs Harbour PS team that won the local Paul Kelly Cup.
Local talent also flourished with Gunnedah’s Sam Naismith spending his first year on the Sydney Swans rookie list, and AFL NSW/ACT casual development officer and Sawtell/Toormina player Jake Saunders playing some games for the Sydney Swans reserves in the NEAFL.
WOW......JUST WOW!!!!! :_<> =D> =D> :_<> =D>
In a bumper year for AFL in the Hunter and on the Central Coast, participation across Auskick, clubs, schools, and AFL 9s grew by more than 20 per cent.
Almost 12,000 people participated in AFL programs in the Hunter and Central Coast in 2013 for its biggest year yet.
In the juniors competition, Newcastle Juniors introduced Under-9s for the first time as the Muswellbrook Cats won their first-ever premiership in the Under-13s.
The nine Central Coast Junior Clubs all had an Under-9s team for the first time and both Newcastle and Central Coast Juniors expanded to Under-17s football.
Four all-female teams also participated in the inaugural Youth Girls Competition on the Central Coast.
In the Black Diamond AFL, Singleton were promoted from Division 1 to Premier Division and the Nelson Bay Marlins won their first senior premiership in Division 1.
There was plenty involvement from AFL stars on the Coast with 12 Sydney Swans players visiting the region in February for the Australia Post Community Camps.
Newcastle locals also got a chance to see elite AFL in July with more than 1500 people attending the Sydney Swans reserves v Eastlake Demons NEAFL game at Number 1 Sportsground in Newcastle.
11 Black Diamond players played as top-ups for the Swans, pulling on the famous red and white guernsey, with three continuing to play with the reserves side during the rest of the year.
QBE Swans Academy product Isaac Heeney (pictured) spent a chunk of the season with the Swans’ NEAFL side, and was selected in the AIS-AFL Academy’s level 2 squad.
A Multicultural Holiday Camp run in Newcastle also brought GWS GIANTS star Setanta O’Hailpin to town.
There were talent programs run at the Hunter Academy of Sport, Central Coast Academy of Sport, and Hunter Sports High School, as well as the Northern Coast TPP and Sydney Swans Academy programs.
In a first for the region, the inaugural AFL Beach 9s Competition was run at Redhead Beach and female football boomed with two Girls Auskick centres, and one Girls Youth AFL 9s run in the region.
Simon McCauley from Newcastle City was named the AFL NSWACT Auskick Volunteer of the Year while Chris Bishop from Terrigal-Avoca was named AFL NSWACT Coach of the Year.
Lachlan Head from Niagara Park was also named an All Australian Umpire at the National Schools Carnival in Darwin.
YEAR IN REVIEW: SOUTH NSW
Southern NSW’s reputation as a hotbed of AFL talent continues unabated, with five of the region’s former juniors making their AFL debuts during the 2013 season.
Southern NSW is one of the state’s largest football-focused regions, with more than 70 junior and senior clubs and 23,000 participants overall.
With almost 5,000 registered Auskickers, joined by thousands more children participating in Auskick clinics, the region is a key contributor to NSW/ACT boasting a higher Auskick participation rate than any other state.
The first game of the 2013 season was a NAB Cup clash held on March 2 between the Greater Western Sydney GIANTS and the Brisbane Lions. Played in front of a near-capacity crowd of 7068 at Wagga Wagga’s refurbished Robertson Oval, the match was a thriller and set an exciting tone for the season, with a Sam Michael goal snatching victory for the Lions in the dying minutes.
Among Southern NSW’s AFL debutants was Narrandera’s Zac Williams, who played his first game for the GIANTS in Round 5 and was the Round 19 nominee for the 2013 NAB Rising Star Award after starring in his side’s victory over Melbourne.
Sam Rowe, a North Albury junior, marked his courageous recovery after being diagnosed with testicular cancer last year, debuting for Carlton in Round 2 this year.
West Broken Hill’s Mitch Clisby and Osborne’s Dean Terlich both debuted for the Melbourne Demons this year, whilst Taylor Duryea made Wahgunyah proud, winning a Premiership with Hawthorn’s VFL side, being an emergency for the AFL Grand Final, and winning their Best First-Year Player award to boot.
The next generation of AFL players are also well stocked with Southern NSW players, with four of the region’s juniors participating in the National Draft Combine ahead of the 2013 NAB AFL Draft.
Southern NSW’s emphasis on developing opportunities for female football players was on show as Wagga Wagga hosted the inaugural Riverina Girls AFL Auskick Centre this year.
More than 150 girls aged between five and 13 participated in a six-week-long, girls-only Auskick centre, a fantastic turnout in the view of the Southern NSW region’s Participation Manager Marc Geppert.
“The promotion from our two female development officers was fantastic, which was an obvious reason in the success,” Geppert said.
“It gave the Wagga region a taste of female youth footy, with the view of establishing a Youth Girls’ competition in 2014.”
Geppert highlighted the inaugural Southern NSW GIANTS Cup as another important step in developing the game’s participation in the Riverina region.
“Over 20 teams in the Under-14s, 16s, Opens Boys and Under-15s and Opens Girls took part,” Geppert said.
“All four Southern NSW sub regions were represented in all age groups, and the use of the three premier AFL facilities in Robertson Oval, McPherson Oval and Maher Oval was a highlight for the kids.”
Che Jenkins, Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area’s Development Coordinator, said that the re-establishment of an Auskick program in Cobar was one of his year’s biggest successes.
“Auskick promotional clinics were run in the two primary schools of Cobar, and we ended up having more than 300 children participate,” Jenkins said.
“An AFL clinic was run at the Cobar Football Club, and that had 40 or so children turn out for it as well.”
“By helping to train Cobar Football Club personnel to coordinate the Auskick Program, we helped them secure more than 40 Auskick registrations.”
Jenkins also brought up the newly-created AFL Multicultural Program in Griffith as an example of the game’s ability to bring Southern NSW together. A six-week-long program, it allowed more than 20 children between the ages of five and 17 to learn the basics of AFL alongside visits to the tenpin bowling alley and the local cinema.
“Strong relationships were established with local government bodies, ensuring a positive future for the Multicultural Program in Griffith,” Jenkins said.
Fourteen nominations were received from clubs for the Merit Award across Southern NSW, with the nominees possessing a staggering combined total of 413 years’ service to Australian football.
YEAR IN REVIEW: SYDNEY/ILLAWARRA
AFL football boomed in Sydney and the Illawarra in 2013 with the region recording a monumental growth in participants of more than 25 per cent.
There were more than 45,000 men, women and kids playing AFL in Sydney and the Illawarra in 2013 as the code continues to go from strength to strength.
This year saw the start of the New AFL 9s competitions started in the western suburbs, northern beaches and southern Highlands and there was the introduction of the Sutherland Shire Combined Catholic Colleges (CCC) AFL competition.
There was also the introduction of a new team in to the AFL Sydney Women’s competition with the formation of the Maroubra Saints.
Independent Schools AFL competition on Saturday mornings with 10 teams from St Patrick’s College Strathfield, Knox Grammar, Waverley College, Cranbrook, St Ignatius Riverview and Trinity Grammar.
Three Public Schools Sports Association (PSSA) regions had an excess of 450 participants each while the Pittwater Auskick Centre doubled its participants from 50 to 100.
There was the commencement of All Suburbs Independent Schools Sports Association (ASISSA) competition made up of predominantly culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) schools and AFL NSW/ACT Sydney staff were involved in
Hornsby Council’s Multicultural Day with 80-100 participants resulting in 5-10 registrations for the local club.
Staff also ran a Holiday Camp for Korean students with more than 30 participants last school holidays.
Sydney South made a clean sweep at the Under 13/14s State Zone Trials against the best in the State and 36 kids were nominated for the QBE Sydney Swans Academy from Paul Kelly Cup competitions with 26 selected for the 2014 program.
There were six AFL debutants from the Sydney/Illawarra region in 2013 with Jarrod Witts (St Ives), Brandon Jack (Westbrook), Dane Rampe (Eastern Sydney), Craig Moller (Cronulla), Will Langford (East Sydney) and Will Sierakowski (St. Ignatius Riverview) all getting a taste of elite level AFL.
The state’s first-ever AFL synthetic facility was also opened at Narrabeen Sports High School this year.
YEAR IN REVIEW: GSJ
In an outstanding year, the Greater Sydney Juniors competition grew by more than seven per cent in 2013, following last year's growth of five perecent.
The 2013 season saw a growth of 7.65 per cent for the Greater Sydney Juniors (GSJ) competition with 11,051 participants across 65 clubs and 439 teams making it the largest junior competition in the state.
The Willoughby Wildcats JAFC in Sydney’s east is the biggest club in the competition, with 466 participants, ahead of East Sydney and Manly.
The Sydney Harbour Red Grand Finals demonstrated the depth of the competition, with 20 clubs represented across the 18 Grand Finals, where no club won more than two Premierships.
Maroubra was the highest represented club with four teams in Grand Finals.
Queenwood School for Girls took out the Under-16 Youth Girls competition, with more and more females taking up the sport after the introduction of another successful Youth Girls competition on the Central Coast. There are plans to introduce another competition in Newcastle next year.
Western Sydney held Grand Finals for the first time at SKODA Stadium with the Under-16 Grand Final played under lights.
2013 also saw the introduction of the AFL GSJ Club of the Year competition with Camden (Western Sydney), Lake Macquarie (Newcastle), Peninsula (Central Coast), Hornsby (Sydney Harbour Red), and Cronulla (Sydney Harbour White) all recognised for their achievements.
Retiring Regional Chairman David Burgess and former Newcastle Junior AFL President John Holmquest were awarded GSJ Life Membership at the AFL GSJ Annual Forum held at Kiama recently.
In talent news, Mosman’s Callum Mills was selected in the Level 1 AIS Academy, won the Carbine Club Scholarship, and was named Division 2 MVP at the NAB AFL Under-16 National Championships in Sydney.
QBE Sydney Swans Academy member Lloyd Perris, from St George, will also formally join the Sydney Swans in November, on a two-year rookie list contract.
YEAR IN REVIEW: NORTH NSW
AFL in Northern NSW continued to strengthen in 2013 with a growth of almost 10 per cent and a number of large events in the burgeoning region.
It was a year of change for AFL in Northern NSW with new initiatives helping the region record its highest participation numbers on record. In May junior and senior representative footy was conducted on the same day for the first time in Port Macquarie at Wayne Richards Park.
July saw all six AFL North Coast Senior clubs play in Coffs Harbour on a ‘Super Saturday’ event which concluded with a dinner where guest speakers from AFL NSW/ACT including Deputy General Manager Craig Bolton and State Operating & Major Projects Manager Joseph La Posta.
The region conducted its first multicultural program with 30 attendees and a number of these went on to play in the Coffs Harbour PS team that won the local Paul Kelly Cup.
Local talent also flourished with Gunnedah’s Sam Naismith spending his first year on the Sydney Swans rookie list, and AFL NSW/ACT casual development officer and Sawtell/Toormina player Jake Saunders playing some games for the Sydney Swans reserves in the NEAFL.
WOW......JUST WOW!!!!! :_<> =D> =D> :_<> =D>
