Thick fog greeted competitors for the second day of the National Youth Championships Girls’ Tournament at the Home of the Matildas in Melbourne.
When the fog finally lifted, it revealed a thrilling day’s action as teams progress through the group stage of the tournament, where Friday will be the final day of this phase.
Capital Football and Western Australia battled out a thrilling match in the Under 15 Age Group where Capital Football scored two goals in the final six minutes to win 3-2. While in the Under 16 Age Group, Football Queensland Maroon narrowly trumped NSW Country in a close affair, 3-2.
Players put to the test
Even though the players at the National Youth Championships are away from school, that doesn’t mean they’ve avoided being tested. They’re not Math or English tests but anthropometric tests (measure body size and strength) and luckily for the players, these tests are easy to pass.
Anthropometric tests have been an aspect of Ӱ’s Talent ID events since 2016 and form an important part of a long-term plan, says Ӱ’s Girls Youth Development Manager, Debbie Fisher.
“The players come in and get measured on their standing height, seated height, body weight, and standing broad jump,” Fisher explained.
“Standing height and seated height give us an indication of where they are in terms of their growth and maturation. This is an important set of data as it tells us where footballers typically are compared to the general population or other sports."
“Standing broad jump tests lower limb strength at this moment in time. When we track that over a long period, it allows us to see how players are developing physically.
“It’s also beneficial when we see players going through their peak height growth because they’re more prone to injury at that moment. This is a long-term investment and research project. It’s about getting more data and information on Australian footballers,” Fisher concluded.
Follow the green and gold brick road
As the tournament progresses through the opening group stages, the quality of football has already caught the eye of even the most seasoned experts.
Two-time A-League Premiership and Championship-winning coach and Ӱ Chief Football Officer, Ernie Merrick OAM, has been thoroughly impressed by the level of play.
“The quality of football just seems to improve so much every year. Lately, it’s been a real surprise because I didn’t think it could get much better, but the quality we’ve seen so far has been outstanding,” Merrick said.
“A lot of the states have done a great job at developing players which has been great to see.”
With teams and players hailing from every corner of Australia, the National Youth Championships push players out of their comfort zones, often bringing out their best.
And that’s exactly what Merrick and the Ӱ technical staff are hoping to see, as players take the first step on a long and rewarding road along the Ӱ Women’s pathway.
“For many of these players, this is just the start of their pathway and there’s lots of different pathways they can go down of course.
“They could go from here into Rae Dower’s Junior Matildas’ team, into Leah Blayney’s Young Matildas’ team, or into Melissa Andreatta’s Under 23 Women’s National team, and eventually into the CommBank Matildas. That’s the pathway open for these athletes,” Merrick concluded.
National Youth Championships 2024 Girls' Tournament Day 2 Results
Under 15 Group A Results:
| Game 1 | |
| Invitational XI: 1 (Summer Smith) NSW Metro: 4 (Jada Taylor, Gabriella White, Matilda Dias Wadewitz & Claire Corbett) | Capital Football: 3 (Liliana Altamore x2 & Bonnie Young) Western Australia: 2 (Andie Williams-Jones & Theodora Mouithys Mickalad) |
Under 15 Group B Results:
| Game 1 | |
| Northern NSW: 0 Victoria Blue: 4 (Alexia Pantazopoulos x2, Heidi Dalton & Irena Razumic) | Queensland Silver: 0 South Australia: 0 |
Under 15 Group C Results:
| Game 1 | |
| NSW Country: 1 (Gisella Pangallo) Queensland Maroon: 5 (Sarena Ibrahim x3, Sienna Chamier Brumpton & Mia Afoa) | Victoria White: 0 Tasmania: 0 |
Under 16 Group A Results:
| Game 1 | |
| NSW Metro: 4 (Eliza Familton x2, Milla Singleton & Sopgia Colen (OG)) Queensland Silver: 0 | Capital Football: 1 (Maggie Wright) Northern NSW: 5 (Natalia O'Driscoll x2, Alexis Collins x2 & Aaliyah Kilroy) |
| Western Australia vs BYE | |
Under 16 Group B Results:
| Game 1 | |
| NSW Country: 2 (Uma Osborne & Allyssa Ng Saad) Queensland Maroon: 3 (Lily Punch x2 & Lily Simpson) | Tasmania: 0 Victoria: 5 (Merve Yucel x2, Leyla Hussein, Jasmine Millar & Kaya Jugovic) |
| South Australia vs BYE | |
More on the National Youth Championships:
CLICK HERE to view the Official National Youth Championships 2024 Girls’ Tournament Digital Program with Fixtures
to watch* the National Youth Championships 2024 Girls’ Tournament thanks to Kommunity TV (*subscription required)
to view the latest results
