PICTURED: NNSW Country v CCM Academy Yellow
Today, Wednesday 18 and tomorrow, Thursday 19 April, Northern NSW Football (NNSWF) will host more than 100 talented players in a 12 Years Development Tournament at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility.
The 12s Development Tournament is an initiative to help to provide more opportunities for regional players to test themselves against the Skill Acquisition Program (SAP) metropolitan players, as well as invitational teams outside of the NNSWF region.
The tournament will see eight (8) metropolitan and regional SAP teams play in a competitive environment against a variety of opposition. For the first time, Central Coast Mariners Academy was invited to enter teams which will provide a further challenge for the players within our region.
Other teams playing include Emerging Jets and SAP teams for NNSWF Country, NNSWF Newcastle SAP, Hunter Valley and Macquarie Zones.
Throughout the two days, Technical Directors and coaches will have the opportunity to discuss how their programs are running and share current and new training methods.
NNSWF Technical Director Michael Browne said that the tournament will provide players from regional areas the opportunity to test themselves against players of a higher standard than they would normally be able to.
“It’s also an opportunity to for Northern NSW Football to identify players from regional areas playing in a high-quality environment.”
NNSWF Technical Advisor Leo Bertos was looking forward to the event to see how the regional players perform.
“Apart from the State Championships in the middle of the year we don’t have many opportunities to see how the regional players are progressing in this age group,” Bertos said.
“Many players from regional areas are identified as talented players and progress into the Jets Academy. I am interested to see who the next possible player/s could be who may transition into that environment in future.”
The tournament style format will be Round Robin matches on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning with Play-Off Finals on Thursday afternoon.
> Official Fixture Draws – NNSWF 12 Years Development Tournament
Full NNSWF Country Squad list below:
| Suburb/Town | Current Club | Zone | |
| James Campbell | Bonville | Coffs City United | NCF |
| Ben Dove | Sandy Beach | Coffs City United | NCF |
| Axel Hollis | Pottsville | Southern Cross University | FFNC |
| Cooper Lamb | Teven | Southern Cross University | FFNC |
| Ben Lynch | Wallabi Point | FMNC | FMNC |
| Hugo McAteer | Tweed Heads West | Southern Cross University | FFNC |
| Liam Mercer | Port Macquarie | Port Saints/FMNC | FMNC |
| Liam Moore | Laurieton | FMNC | FMNC |
| Frederik Morris | Port Macquarie | Port Saints/FMNC | FMNC |
| Ederyn Rankin | Rosebank | Southern Cross University | FFNC |
| Jasper Stewart | Round Mountain | Kingscliff District | FFNC |
| Cooper West | Port Macquarie | Port Saints/FMNC | FMNC |
| Jayde Williams Kolas | Clunes | Southern Cross University | FFNC |
Metro squad lists:
| Macquarie Football | |
| Name (First / Surname): | Suburb |
| Jarrod Hogan (GK) | Birmingham Gardens |
| Jacob Ashley-Brown | Speers Point |
| Lars Bergmann | Redhead |
| Riley Court | Valentine |
| Ethan Guy | Cooranbong |
| Cooper Fitchett | Macquarie Hills |
| Charlie Gibson | Cardiff |
| Connor Halpin | Belmont |
| Max Linnert | Redhead |
| Kai Herd | Fern Bay |
| Nathan Hunton | Caves Beach |
| Pharrell Trainor | Pelican |
| Angus Reid | Eleebana |
| Liam Lightfoot | Hamlyn Terrace |
| Emerging Jets Blue | |
| Name (First / Surname): | Suburb |
| Sam Caldwell (GK) | Adamstown |
| Tatenda Goora | East Maitland |
| Will Dobson | Belmont North |
| Jake Goodwin | Hamilton East |
| Stanley Manning-Lourey | Merewether |
| Max Miller | Rankin Park |
| Tristan Moffitt | Wollombi |
| Alex Nunes | Hunterview |
| William Walker | Aberglasslyn |
| Max Cooper | Charlestown |
| Kye Schumacher | Holmesville |
| Hunter Valley Football | |
| Name (First / Surname): | Suburb |
| Patrick Innes (GK) | Brookfield |
| Harrison Coleman (GK) | Ellalong |
| Harry Carlson | Windella |
| Hayden Cullen | Branxton |
| Archie Cranch | Wollombi |
| Cooper Rostron | Thornton |
| Max Field | East Maitland |
| Jordan Harney | Heatherbrae |
| Logan Cant | East Maitland |
| Jye Thorpe | East Branxton |
| Max Wilkinson | North Rothbury |
| Jake Garth | Branxton |
| Jack Butler (GK) | Hilldale |
| Zane Lovell | Branxton |
| Emerging Jets Red | |
| Name (First / Surname): | Suburb |
| Oscar Archbold (GK) | Bellbird |
| Ruben Fuentes | Hamilton |
| Max Apostolidis | Merewether Heights |
| Will Harvey | Merewether |
| Jesse Hill | Kahibah |
| Lewis Houston | Cardiff |
| Maya Marolly | Speers Point |
| Sam Murphy | Maryland |
| Luca West | Charlestown |
| Cooper Hancock | Barnsley |
| Ben Mewett | Warners Bay |
| NNSWF Newcastle SAP | |
| Name (First / Surname): | Suburb |
| Ethan Lewis (GK) | Adamstown Heights |
| Nick Brown | New Lambton Heights |
| Noah Di Claudio | Warabrook |
| Charlie Halls | Corlette |
| Giles Harrison | New Lambton Heights |
| Izac Lavender | Medowie |
| Jamie Lloyd | Adamstown Heights |
| Lorcan McCallum | Merewether |
| Jude O’Brien | Bar Beach |
| River Petersen | Adamstown Heights |
| Charlie McGrath (GK) | Corlette |
| Charlie Stevenson | New Lambton |
| George Tsamouras | Adamstown Heights |
| Lucas Walshe | Adamstown Heights |
