North Coast’s talented juniors a Force to be reckoned with

The North Coast Force junior representative teams continue to show improvement the longer the Northern NSW Championships continue. Photo: Matt Crawley

THE Northern NSW Championship has the AFL North Coast region set to once again become a hub of top-level junior AFL talent from Wednesday.

The junior representative carnival will see both boys and girls representative teams from the Illawarra, Hunter, Central Coast and the local North Coast play in the under 13, under 15 and under 17 age groups across three days at the C.ex Coffs International Stadium and adjacent Sport & Leisure Park grounds.

The event will see 27 teams play for their program to win the coveted Simon Smyth Cup.

“It’s going to be a big three days with about 600 players in total playing in 81 matches across the three days,” said Brad Greenshields, Community Football and Competition Manager for AFL Northern NSW.

“Couple that with 120 coaches, managers and umpires as well as about 1,200 spectators each day, you can see that the event will bring a large section of the state’ footy community to the region.”

The North Coast Force teams have continued to improve year-on-year and next week will be looking to show the increased strength and experience of those involved in the local development program.

Matches on Wednesday across the three ovals start at 9.00am and will run to 4.35pm. Thursday will see matches start at 9.20am with the last matches of the day being played under lights until 7.35pm. The final day will start at 8.30am and Friday’s action will wrap up at 12.55pm. 

Entry to the Championship is free, including all matches at the C.ex Coffs International Stadium.