Junior AFL tournament in Australia

A final squad of 30 players each for boys and girls U17, U16, U15 and U14 will be finalized from the current training squad of between 60 and 70. They are part of the AFL South Pacific High Performance Pathway, proudly supported by the Australian Government’s Pacific-Aus Sports program.

These young AFL enthusiasts are currently going through the vetting process before the squads are whittled down to 30, including five non-travelling reserves for the upcoming tournaments. The squad includes current players and new members to this year’s competition.

There are three major events scheduled to take place in Australia in August, September and November, while the final tournament will be in Fiji for the Oceania Challenge in early December.

PNG AFL Academy Manager Prudence Sindriwen explained that in preparation for the hectic year-end tournaments, they have assembled a training squad, identified and selected from the current PNGAFL Talent Academy system and program held last year and early this year at Murray. barracks. She said that since the team was assembled, they have shown commitment and a lot of enthusiasm in training.

Sindriwen said on August 30 that the PNG U16 boys and girls would be in Cairns for the Far North Queensland challenge alongside the Cairns and Cape York selections.

On September 21, the PNG U14 boys will tour the Sunshine Coast, followed by the U17 boys and girls for the Pacific Cup Academy on November 13. This tour includes Nauru, New Zealand, Samoa, Solomon Islands Tonga and Vanuatu with a special appearance by South Africa.

The year will end in Fiji with the annual U15 Boys and Girls Oceania Cup Challenge from 4th to 9th December.

Sindriwen said the teams will be announced in early July once personnel and travel documents are confirmed.