This long weekend, more than 220 of Northern NSW’s most talented 11 and 12-year-old male footballers will compete in the annual Telstra State SAP Championships in Coffs Harbour.
The Telstra SAP State Championships for Boys is contested by 16 teams made up from the seven Member Zones and is the pinnacle event supporting the development of young players through the implementation of Licensed Skill Acquisition Programs (SAP’s).
The format of the Telstra SAP State Championships for Boys has been amended to acknowledge the vital contribution of Licensed SAP’s contribute to the development of players within NNSWF’s Talented Player Pathway (TPP).
Whilst skill development is clearly the primary focus of the Skill Acquisition Phase of a player’s development, players also have to advance their understanding of the game in order to apply these skills in competitive matches and progress their football career.
NNSWF Technical Director Michael Browne is looking forward to the talent that will be showcased across the three-day tournament.
“The Telstra SAP State Championships for Boys is always a very popular and keenly contested tournament,” Browne said.
“The participating teams all play against each other over two and a half days and the format enables zones to compare their players against others from different parts of the state.
“Players in both age groups have the opportunity to earn themselves a place in the High-Performance camp scheduled for January 2019 and in addition staff from Newcastle Jets will also be present to looking for potential players,” Browne concluded.
The first of 56 matches for the three-day competition will commence at 8.30am on Saturday, 9 June 2018 at C.ex Coffs International Stadium.
Both age groups will play simultaneously on the two fields with the Grand Final for each age group.
The presentation ceremony for the Championships will take place at 2 pm, Monday 11 June.
The Telstra SAP State Championships for Boys is just the first of NNSWF’s major tournaments to be conducted at Coffs Harbour International Stadium in 2018 other Include:
- NNSWF Westfield National Youth Championships for Girls in July;
- FFA National Youth Championships for Boys in September;
- SAP State Championships for Girls in October, and
- The highly anticipated Champion of Champions in October.
2018 Telstra SAP State Championship for Boys NNSWF Select SAP team list is as follows:
11 Years
- Tyler Dogan – East Ballina
- Rhys Tyrrell – Windella
- Koopa Gray – Floraville
- Darcy Hampson – Wollongbar
- Cooper Keane – East Ballina
- Pleiades Kerry – Mullumbimby
- Charlie Cotton – Bolwarra Heights
- Zakary Lawrence – East Lismore
- Rory McLean – Goonellabah
- Jacob Miletic – East Ballina
- River Robinson – Angourie
- Tiernan Murphy – Lambton
- Bowen Stubbs (GK) – Eleebana
- Clayton Willis – Redhead
Coach: Martin Slade
Manager: Andrew Kerry
Trainer: Craig Soper
12 Years
- Sam Caldwell (GK) – Adamstown
- Hugo McAteer – Tweeds Heads West
- Jedidiah McPherson – East Lismore
- Axel Hollis – Pottsville
- Harley Walters – Angourie
- Jackson Tuckett – Suffolk Park
- Jayde Kolas – Clunes
- Ederyn Rankin – Rosebank
- Shalev Haver – Ocean Shores
- Cooper Lamb – Teven
- Tate Baldwin – East Ballina
- Jasper Stewart – Round Mountain
- Tatenda Goora – East Maitland
Coach: Neil Fuller
Manager: Sharyn Brodie
Trainer: Craig Soper
Head of Delegation: Leo Bertos
