The annual U15 National KickStart Championships are being held on the Gold Coast for the second time at Southport Sharks Football Club grounds from Tuesday 10th to Friday 13th of April.
This year’s carnival will see all states and territories represented at the championships in a round robin tournament over three days with the grand final being held on the Friday 13th April.
Each team has selected the best 25 Indigenous players from their state KickStart Camps with VIC & TAS combined as well as NSW & ACT.
The Queensland squad comprises players from the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Townsville-Palm Island, Northern Rivers, Darling Downs, Cape York and Cairns Regions.
The U15 KickStart Championships structure has been developed to provide a supported talented player pathway that compliments the National U16 Championships and exposes Indigenous coaches, doctors, physiotherapists and trainers to an elite AFL Program environment. The carnival is the first stage for players to be involved in a high performance environment and will provide players with an opportunity to test themselves against the best emerging Indigenous players from across the country.
Queensland Coach Anthony Corrie was full of praise for the Queensland Squad:
“I ‘m excited to have the opportunity to coach such an exceptional group of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men at such a crucial time in their lives,” said Corrie.
“This program is designed to assist these young men in making the right decisions as they enter a very important time in their life and hopefully role models such as Chris Johnson, Andrew Mcleod and myself can have a positive impact.”
Corrie also said he was hoping that the group would catch the eye of AFL recruiters during the carnival.
“There is some exceptional talent within our group, I am confident that some of our players have the talent and attitude to play at the highest level,” he said.
Hopefully these championships provides the platform for AFL clubs and recruiters to see the ability and provide the opportunity ”
