Northern Inland Football commenced an intensive program of training in Armidale on Saturday in preparation for the Telstra State Championships to be held at Coffs Harbour’s International Stadium in June.
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The training is the first of five sessions aimed at developing the Under 11s and Under 12 Boys teams that were recently selected from try outs held in Tamworth earlier this month.
The boys have been hand-picked by NIF coaching staff from several teams participating in the Northern Inland regions Skills Acquisition Program with strong representation from Armidale, Inverell, Gunnedah and Tamworth.
NIF Technical Director Howard Stubbs is looking forward to seeing Northern Inland perform and has been impressed with the depth of talent and commitment shown by the kids in the region to date.
“Northern Inland have always been competitive at these carnivals in previous years and there is no reason why this year should be any different,” he said.
The Championships are major events for both players and coaching staff throughout Northern Inland, and coaches Matt Davis (Gunnedah) and Maree Wise (Tamworth) have high hopes for their under 11s squad.
“We are pretty confident the boys will hold their own at the carnival,” Davis said.
“They have been competitive against teams from Hunter and North Coast and Macquarie to date and we hope the boys can continue the form into the carnival and jag a win for Northern Inland.”
Ms Wise reinforced their prospects as she has witnessed the player development over the years.
“Many of the boys have been in the NIF Program since they were eight years old and have come a long way,” she said.
Adam Ramage, Armidale’s Head Coach said that the boys will grow from the State Carnival experience. “It’s definitely another level and they will see that and have to learn to deal with the pressure that comes with that. It will be good for them whatever the result.”
Local Armidale NIF Under 11 players Evan Kwan (TAS) and Tommy Schaefer (St Marys) are looking forward to meeting that challenge head on.
“It’s exciting because we have both been training with the NIF squad for years. This age group is our first chance to represent Northern Inland at the State Championships,” Tommy said.
Evan Kwan has just returned from representing his region at the Combined Independent Schools (CIS) carnival in Sydney and has a new appreciation for the standard of football at the representative level.
“It’s pretty fast and they just don’t stop moving,” he said.
The Under 11s boys team representatives include; Evan Kwan, Tommy Schaefer, Miller Harwood, Byron Kollosche and Austin Johns from Armidale; Noah Davis, Ben Cini, Ash Garnham, Mason Louis, Jayden Bender, Lucas Sardinha from Gunnedah and Jordan Byrne from Tamworth.
Howard Stubbs advised that the Under 12 boys team is still undergoing selection with the final team to be announced next week.
