The Under 20 National Provincial Championships were held on the weekend of March 13th and 14th in Wellington at Hutt Park.
Four teams competed in the tournament including Under 20 teams from Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington as well as the New Zealand Hawks Under 16 team.
International Scolarship holder Kurt Heatherley
The new facilities at Hutt Park provided the teams with a fantastic surface and amenities care of Hutt City Council and Stop Out Football Club and the Wellington AFL will look to discuss further the opportunity to utilize the facility as their new home ground for the upcoming 2010 season commencing in September.
Once again Hawthorn Football Club provided a presence with both Chris Pelchen, General Manager of Player Personnel and Strategy and Graham Wright, East Coast Recruiting Manager in attendance for the weekend.
All teams competed in a round robin schedule of three games per team comprising of two twenty five minute halves followed by a play off for third and fourth positions and a grand final to determine the eventual winners.
Tournamnet most determined Justin Clarke (Red) competes against Aucklands Luke Deegan
At the end of the round robin, Canterbury were undefeated and Auckland with a single loss to the Canterbury team. Wellington and the New Zealand Under 16’s were left to battle for minor honours.
More tournament photos Many thanks to Jun Tanlay for time and supplying photographs of the event.
The Grand Final was played out between reigning champions Auckland coached by New Zealand International Cup representative James Monaghan and rising star Canterbury coached by David De Cuevas. The Canterbury unit ran out winners and were easily the best performing team on the weekend. Canterbury 6 16 52 defeated Auckland 4 4 32.
Complete Tournament Results
The talent on display certainly assisted New Zealand Under 20 coach Lachlan Keating begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting, naming a squad of 47 players in preparation for scheduled matches against Victorian Amateur Football Association at Westminster Park Park Christchurch in October 2010. The team will train in conjunction with the Senior and Under 16 teams also scheduled to participate in tournaments later this year.
Hawthorn recruiter Graham Wright mentioned in his address to players on the Saturday evening function that the standard had doubled from last years inaugural event. This was also evident in the ever improving coaching and management structure of the competing teams.
The player pool is increasing and with the current Under 16 players now looking to be distributed to provincial Under 20 teams, an increase in playing ability is likely to continue.
Kurt Heatherley, New Zealands first International Scholarship, continued to impress by winning the tournament Best and Fairest on count back from current New Zealand Under 20’s captain Andriu Sucu, a great achievement playing against opposition five years senior to himself.
The Wellington AFL and in particular Tournament organiser Byron Mabbett and Margaret Lavery should be commended for their efforts in producing a fantastic venue and event. Congratulations to all involved yet again.
The New Zealand Squad for Under 20's is as follows;
| Surname |
First name |
| AUCKLAND |
|
| Ackland |
Liam |
| Deegan |
Luke |
| Gore |
Robbie |
| Gregson |
Michael |
| Kapene-Becher |
Kiwi |
| Large |
Zach |
| Rice |
Adam |
| Simons |
James |
| Sucu |
Andriu |
| Turner |
Matt |
| Williams |
Carl |
| Woods |
Tom |
| Young |
Tamati |
| WELLINGTON |
|
| Annand |
Daniel |
| Ferrari |
James |
| Garrick |
Brendan |
| Geale |
Harley |
| George |
Matthew |
| Lavery |
Troy |
| Sherring |
Sam |
| Shrivers |
Hayden |
| Willis |
Michael |
| CANTERBURY |
|
| Baker |
Adam |
| Blackler |
Sam |
| Church |
Ethan |
| Clark |
Justin |
| Crighton |
Matthew |
| Harding |
Ethan |
| Harding |
Mitchell |
| Howison |
Andrew |
| Marshall |
Ryan |
| Morel |
Chris |
| Satterthwaite |
Tom |
| Stevenson |
James |
| Swift |
Brendon |
| Talaepa |
Nile |
| van Gruting |
Stephan |
| Williams |
Zac |
| WAIKATO |
|
| Hope |
Ludwig |
| NZ U16s |
|
| Cleave |
Brody |
| Fisher |
Ben |
| Fusitu'a |
David |
| Hartman |
Vandyn |
| Heatherley |
Kurt |
| Maio |
Zachary |
| Panui-Leth |
Rhys |
| Purdie-Timoteo |
Domonic |
| Tatapu |
Shem |
| Tuitupou |
Sam |