AFL New Zealand is excited to announce the return of the Youth Competition commencing in October 2016. The return will mark the second year of the competition after a hugely successful competition in 2015.
The Youth Competition for boys and girls has been created to compliment the pathway for participants to excel in AFL.
Within the Youth Competition there is a focus on improving athletes’ skills and fitness along with a training, game and development programme that highlights the necessary requirements throughout the pathway.
Members of the competition are selected from:
- Secondary School Programmes
- Intermediate School Programmes
- School and Regional Combines
- Talent Identification Personnel
- Current Players
The Youth Boys competition will be based in two major centres in Auckland and Wellington with two age groups U14 & U17. The Youth Girls will be based in both Auckland and Wellington featuring an U17 age group.
There are two age groups for Youth Boys, U14 and U17. The Youth Girls is U18. Each age group includes a combination of skill development – kicking, catching, passing and bouncing – game play and personal development that takes place throughout New Zealand. This combination will lead to a number of opportunities for participants including AFL New Zealand Academy selection, New Zealand representation, National Combine selection, access to talent scouts and AFL International Scholarships.
There are a number of National Academy and age group teams, Academy Level 1, Academy Level 2, Under 18 New Zealand Kahu Youth Girls. These teams are selected from the respective Academy levels and either tour in Australia or play a touring Australian based team every April.
Read more:
NZ Hawks Academy Level 1 make strong debut
Level 2 NZ Hawks Academy show good signs against Peninsula Saints
NZ Kahu Youth Girls stand tall against Peninsula Saints Youth Girls
U18 NZ Hawks produce best performance in Melbourne
Players who participated in last year’s Youth competition went on to play in the Inaugural 2016 AFLNZ Premiership with some representing their country playing for the NZ Hawks in April this year.
Youth players who received AFLNZ Premiership Rising star award:
For further information and player and volunteer registration, go to youth.aflnz.co.nz
