Local stars to take on Australia’s best in National Championships

The upcoming School Sports Australia 15 Years and Under Girls and Boys National Championships will feature a strong contingent from the AFL Barwon region. Seven players from the AFL Barwon clubs will be participating in the carnival, which commences on Saturday, July 22nd in Ballarat.

Representing Victoria in the Girls Championships will be St. Joseph's utility Meyah Fursland and Peninsula Sharks goal kicker Ziva Shawcross. Both girls from Western Heights Secondary College, earned their spots in the final squad after going through two trial matches and impressing the selectors. Ziva, a key forward for the Sharks, has already kicked an impressive nine goals this season. Inspired by AFLW star Tayla Harris, she has modelled her game on Harris' style.

Meyah has admired key defenders like former Geelong Cats Champion Matthew Scarlett to base her game off. The girls will head to a training camp prior to carnival where they will meet their Victorian teammates from across the State.

In the Under 15 boy’s squad, three Ocean Grove juniors, Jack Thomson, Darcy Harrington, and Ned Badrock, have secured their spots in the final squad. Additionally, St. Joseph's midfielder Archer Chamberlain and Torquay's key position prospect Jack Pickett will also represent Victoria in the Championships.

Archer Chamberlain, excited to follow in the footsteps of AFL stars like Darcy Parish, Patrick Dangerfield and Travis Boak, expressed his gratitude for the mentors who have helped him develop his game over the past year. “We had some really good coaches at our St Joseph's year 9 campus, with Mr (Paul) Hood being a good coach to learn from”.  

Jack Pickett, a 189cm Ruckman was hopefully he would be able to have an impact forward in the carnival. “Hopefully I play in the forward line as I don’t think I am big enough to be a ruckman for Victoria” he joked. Torquay Senior coach Dom Gleeson had played a role in some mentoring sessions and sharing some advice according to Jack. He was hopefully to play consistent and as best as he could in the carnival.

The full squads for School Sports Australia 15 Years and Under Girls and Boys National Championships can be found here.

Author: Sean Atkinson