Coach William Fozard has named a 40-player Queensland squad for the inaugural Australian U18 girls championships in Melbourne in September.
Friday, 31 July, 2010
Katie Brennan, Queensland U18 girls captain for the past two years, is racing against time to be fit for the inaugural Australian U18 championships in Melbourne in September.
Brennan (pictured) is recovering from a stress fracture to her tibia but hopes to be available for the carnival, which will be her last outing at U18 level and her first fully national U18 series.
The 2009 All-Australian Open selection has been included in a 41-player squad named by coach William Fozard, who is set for his third year in charge of the Queensland U18 girls side.
Teams from South Australia, Western Australia and NSW/ACT, plus a Victorian development side, will join Victoria and Queensland, who have played against each other at this level for the last three years.
The Victorian development side will replace the Northern Territory, who were a late withdrawal from the carnival, to be played from 6-12 September.
Assistant-coach of the Queensland U18 side will be Jo Butland, the current Queensland Open captain.
According to Julia Price, AFLQ Female Participation & Coaching Co-0rdinator, 28 out of the 40 girls are from the Quest Community Newspapers Under 18 Youth Girls Club competition, and 16 are from the regional areas of Toowoomba, Gold Coast and Far North Queensland.
There are nine members of last year’s State U18 side back to provide some important experience – Brennan, Cleo Davis, Indy Sleeth, Lauren James, Rakee Tagaloa, Sarah Sailor, Madi Crowley-Long and Kathleen Peter.
No less than 26 members of the squad have come through the Under 16 Youth Girls State Championship system, involving North Queensland, South-East Queensland Flames and Cape York.
The touring party of 25 players will be named on Monday 16 August.
The squad is:
Breanna Koenen (Cathedral College);Kathleen Peter (Djarragun College); Cleo Davis, Brittany Magarry, Alice Rickard, Indy Sleeth, Jocinta Sleeth, Jessie Temple-Smith, Krystal Wilkins, Ebony Zuber (Gold Coast Warriors), Lucile Kemp (Kedron); Taylor Prime (Kedron State High);KatieBrennan (Logan), Cassie-Mae Butler (South Cairns); Naomi Clayton, Rhiannon Hall, Kimberley Hendy, Adriann Rowe, Kristy Wallace (Southern Storm); Kellie Hopkins, Alicia Machielsen (Southern Storm/Logan);Amanda Whitehead (Southern Storm / Western Magpies); Madi Crowley-Long, Brittany Downs (Southern Storm/Zillmere); Vera Gabuma, Sarah Sailor (Tagai State College); Megan Hunt (Tannum Sands); Caitlyn Huth, Aishlin Killeen, Selina Puruntatameri (Toowoomba); Madeline Barnett, Stephanie Barnett, Shaye Easton, Lauren James (Western Magpies), Jess Malouf, Anna O’Keeffe, Emily Wastle (Western Thunder / Western Magpies); Charmaine De Wet, Hilary van Herwaarden (Western Thunder), Rakee Tagaloa (Zillmere).
