The Michael Long Cup 15 and Under Development Camp will rollout this weekend as AFLNT goes in search of the best young football talent, male and female, from right across the Territory.
This year’s camp will run in the same format of previous years and see teams aligned with some of the AFL’s Next Generation Academies (NGAs) play in a round-robin format on Saturday 18 May at TIO Stadium in Darwin.
Two teams from Darwin and the Palmerston and Rural Areas (PARS) will compete against a Collingwood NGA team from the Barkly region, while the Redtails/Pinktails teams from Alice Springs will have representation in both the boys and girls divisions. A total of 120 players are expected to participate.
The original camp was scheduled for back in March before bad weather and the threat of ex-tropical Cyclone Trevor saw its postponement to this weekend.
Each team will play four games of 15-minute halves on Saturday before a closing ceremony where School Sport NT squads will be announced.
The teams will then go on to play in the School Sport National Championships in Tasmania in July.
AFLNT Talent and Pathways Manager Wally Gallio said running the weekend this way would expose more young talent than ever before.
“This development weekend will help us get a better gauge of talent from all over the Territory to select players to represent the NT at the National Championships.
“The NGA Territory-based clubs, School Sport NT and AFLNT are working together to give opportunities to young Territorians to play on the national stage and come into the system at a younger age,” he said.
