Sydney Harbour takes out Youth Girls title
This article originally appeared on The Daily Advertiser website.
After two days and 16 games of Australian football action, Sydney Harbour’s pathway team came from behind to beat Riverina in the grand final, 7.3 (45) to 2.4 (16).
More than 160 female footballers converged in Wagga for the annual tournament where the state’s finest under 18 talent was put on the paddock in a bid to select the NSW team.
While the representative team will be named in coming days, NSW-ACT AFL female program manager Libby Sadler was blown away by the standard of football produced by the young ladies.
“The standard was exceptional,” Sadler said.
“It’s improved far and beyond from last year.
“The linkage play, the girls’ understanding of the game and finesse of skills has improved exponentially.”
Riverina got off to a good start in Sunday’s final and led at quarter-time, only for Sydney Harbour to fight back and come away with a strong 29-point victory.
Sydney Harbour had dominated the tournament but the Riverina girls were still able to walk away with heads held high.
Sadler said the young female talent coming through the ranks is getting better every year.
“A lot of girls played in the under 16 CHS team at the national championships and it was good to see them come through and really hold their own against the older, established talent,” she said.
AFL NSW/ACT will release the NSW/ACT under 18 female state team in coming days.
