Day 1 Update From The Girls Under 14 and Under 15 National Junior Championships

While there is festival of Junior Football in the ACT at the moment with the Kanga Cup, let's not forget that our ACT girls are campaigning at the National Junior Championships being held in Coffs Harbour.

Two parents (Eddie Senatore and Simon Kravis) of players  in both teams have kindly forwarded the NPL progress reports from Day 1 of competition.

Day 1 Results

For the ACT its good news:

• ACT Under 14s - Won 4-2 (ACT v SA)
• ACT Under 15 - Won 14-0 (ACT v NT)

Simon Kravis, the NPL roving reporter of previous NJC reports sent this report on both games:

Westfield Football Federation Australia National Youth Championship for Girls BCU Stadium, Coffs Harbour
Monday 11 July 2011

Both the ACT Under 15 and Under 14 teams made a good start to the championship today. The Under 15s outclassed the Northern Territory to win 14-0 with goals from Talia Backhouse(4), Eloise O'Brien(4), Monica Cerro(2), Olivia Gurney(2) and Leanne Pompeani(2). The NT team laboured under the handicaps of a small and dispersed population base and had only played together as a team for two days prior to the start of the Championship, but despite these difficulties they did not stop trying.
 The Under 14s played South Australia, the most comparable team in terms of population and metropolitan concentration, and won 4-2 in an engrossing game. ACT started strongly, with Hayley Armstrong threatening in front of the SA goal. After 10 minutes she connected with a well-placed chip from Ruth Kravis to open the scoring for the ACT. SA responded quickly to take advantage of a defensive error that left an open goal for Lauren Steer to tap the ball into and even up the score. SA dominated the remainder of the first half, applying sustained pressure to the ACT defence, with a free kick from Roxanne Dodd striking the woodwork, but ACT managed a counter-attack which exposed weakness in the defence, allowing Melissa Leary to take the score to 2-1 at half time.
 SA had another narrow miss from a free kick outside the penalty area after the break, but the speed of the ACT strikers allowed  Samantha Roff to take the score to 3-1, when she latched onto a loose SA goal kick and Caitlin Cantrell extended the lead to 4-1 after dribbling past two defenders and finishing well. SA continued to attack, but less consistently and ACT held their lead through some excellent goal-keeping from Georgia Worth, who tipped two powerful strikes over the bar, and diligent defensive work from Emma Bestek, whose speed managed to contain the dangerous SA attack. SA were finally rewarded with an angled goal from Venetia Rogers to bring the final scoreline to 4-2.
 Both ACT teams face a tough day tomorrow with the Under 14s taking on hosts Northern NSW, and the Under 15s meeting Queensland.
 As well as two teams, the ACT is also supplying two referees for the Championship. Georgia Ghirardello and Mia Southwell are officiating for both age groups.

Good Use of Social Media

Northern NSW Football have a very good Facebook site.  They know how to use social media. Results for the NJC are available online at www.facebook.com/nnswf.


Some Useful Information Provided to the NPL by the FFA Concerning the NJC Under 14 and Under 15 Girls
In response to several parents of players asking the NPL about "technical assessment" and selection of representative teams, the FFA very promptly provided this information:


To answer your questions:

1) There is no additional points allocated at this particular tournament as that trial has occurred and following review not continued.

2) There is a Technical Study Group that will be watching all matches at the Westfield FFA National Youth Championships for Girls 2011 which will be headed by the Westfield Young Matildas Head Coach Alen Stajcic. The TSG will also select an All Star team that will play the National champions in each respective age group on the last day of the tournament.
3) There is no representative team, per se, selected at the end of the tournament, but talented players will be identified for future selection in the Australian U-17 Women’s Football squad when appropriate.