The regional finals of the Paul Kelly Cup was what drove both Young Public School’s boys and girls AFL teams to knock Young North Public School out of the competition.
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Over three games last Wednesday at Gus Smith Oval, Young Public’s efforts could only be described as them ‘blitzing’ their opposition.
“The main thing going against Young North was that they just weren’t tall enough!” Young Saints Under 12s coach Geoff Harmer said.
Young Public have now qualified for the regional finals at Bathurst in early June and if successful there, the state finals in Sydney at a later date.
The two schools were among the 1500 Years 5 and 6 students and 100 teams in the Central West participating in the state-wide competition, adding to 15,000 players in total.
Central West AFL regional coordinator Peter Yandle and development officers Nathan Moffatt and Sam Hutch have covered 1500 kilometres in six days, visiting areas like Young, Bathurst, Orange, Parkes and Mudgee for the cup.
The Central West region have a lot going for them this year considering Assumption School in Bathurst won the state final in 2011 and became the first Central West team to win at that level.
It is Yandle’s hope – along with coach Harmer – that more schools can get involved in next year’s cup, including inviting boys and girls from Cootamundra and Boorowa schools to participate in a round robin.
It’s not entirely the end of all the action for Young North – on June 8 players will be participating in the Tony Lockett Sheild which will see them up against players from Junee, Temora, Cootamundra and three or four teams from Wagga Wagga.
Wednesday’s matches achieved their purpose with up to eight children wanting to join the Young Saints Under 12s team.
“And there might be a few who are eligible for the Under 14s team too,” Harmer added.
For those who may still be interested, the Under 12s and 14s Saints teams start their season on April 29 and Geoff Harmer can be contacted on 0457 341 719.
April 14 will see the Saints A grade’s first match against Cowra at Gus Smith Oval at 2pm with the Under 17s kicking off their game between 11am and 12 noon.