The annual AFLNT Under 15 Girls Carnival is on in Darwin this week with the best of the Territory’s young talent on display.
Six teams will converge on TIO Stadium all day Thursday and Friday for the annual event, which includes representation from Dripstone (STARS), Essington, PGA Rosebery, Sanderson School (STARS), Tiwi College and a combined team from Xavier College on the Tiwi Islands and Maningrida.
The carnival has been running since 2012 and Tiwi College has won every year since its inception.
This year’s event will also include some talent testing and a 100m sprint race between the fastest representative in each team.
Selectors will be on-hand to watch games and select talent for Northern Territory All Nations and Kickstart teams which will compete in the 2017 AFL National Female Diversity Championships in Byron Bay in October.
Players such as Tayla Thorn, Jerrica Heenan and Molly Althouse have received national selection after competing in previous Diversity Championships, with Thorn then being drafted to the Adelaide Crows Women’s team in their inaugural season.
For the second year running, Western Bulldogs player and the AFL’s Female Football Talent Operations Manager, Aasta O’Connor will be here to observe and help run education sessions with the participants.
AFLNT High Performance Manager Wally Gallio said every year the standard in the U15 Girls Carnival improved.
“Unlike their predecessors, some of these girls have been playing footy all their lives, so I am looking forward to seeing what talent we unearth from this year’s group and finding the next potential NT and AFLW stars,” Gallio said.
The first round of games kicks off at 9.15am tomorrow, Thursday 10th August and the Grand Final is scheduled for 11:30am on Friday.
Please see the 2017 draw here.
*Note: Draw is subject to change.