From last Monday through to Thursday seven young footballers from the Merimbula Giants Program were given the opportunity to play against some of the best thirteen and fourteen year old players in the state through the Joss State Zone Trials.
With current Sydney Swans player Isaac Heeney having participated in the carnival in 2009 scouts from around the country flocked to Albury Football Ground in search of the next big thing. Local players Jedd Martyn, Billy Stubbs (Merimbula), Kynan Baker, Flynn Cook (Pambula), Heath Beaumont (Merimbula/ Ainslie), Caleb Higgins (Merimbula/ Quenbeyan) and Liam Russell (Bermagui/ Quenbeyan)put their best foot forward for the ACT/South Coast regularly in the best throughout the week.
‘The boys can be really proud of their efforts over the week. Although I was only able to make the carnival on Wednesday the boys were highly competitive and they all have tremendous footballing futures ahead. Sometimes when you play with new players in a new system you can get a little lost on the field but credit to the boy’s they definitely looked at home out on the field’ observed Sapphire Coast Development Coordinator Jarrod Moore.
The carnival was extremely successful for the two ACT/ South Coast teams especially the under 13’s squad who came away from the carnival with five wins and one loss whilst defeating perennial powerhouses the Riverina and Murray although eventually falling to Sydney North. The under 14’s squad who fought out three wins and three losses were gallant in all six matches and unlucky not to notch another couple of wins for the carnival having played attractive and fluid football at all times.
‘It is a credit to all involved within the carnival and the Giants and Swans development program all around the state for putting on a fantastic four day event whilst giving the boys an opportunity to live like an AFL footballer for four days and show the players just how hard they have to work to reach the top echelon of the game. To get seven players into the carnival is a great result and credit must go to Doug Martyn and Glen Baker for their hard work at the Merimbula centre Moore concluded.
Last Modified on 08/02/2016 14:12