Tough tussles as New England hosts Tamworth
From the Armidale Express, 26/06/2006
Footballing kids were the big winners on Saturday, when Armidale hosted the Auskick AFL carnival for children between the ages of five and 12.
The players were split up into three age groups of five-seven years, eight-nine years and 10-12 years old.
More than 70 children participated in the carnival, and made the most of the games despite some miserable weather.
While Tamworth triumphed in the five-seven years division by 8.6.54 to 4.8.32, there was better news for the locals in the other divisions.
Armidale won a low scoring affair in the eight-nine years division by 4.2.26 to 1.9.15, and also came up trumps in the 10-12 years game by 6.3.39 to 2.4.16.
Craig Collins, the coordinator for Armidale Auskick, was delighted at the way the day turned out.
“The matches were a tremendous success and the event has served to truly launch junior Aussie rules in Armidale.
“Apart from the team of Armidale under nines which played in Sydney at the SCG a couple of weeks ago, these matches gave every Auskicker the chance to play a match with their own team-mates against another regional centre.
“So many of the kids flourished when placed in this sort of game situation and I am happily surprised at just how quickly and well they have begun to master the game.”
Some high-level skills were on show from many of the players, and all the games were played in great spirit.
“There is a lot of football talent emerging through Auskick this year and it will be important for this to be fostered and developed into the future,” Collins said.
“Even more impressive is the level of team bonding and good sportsmanship being displayed by all of our players.”
Now that the players have got a taste of the action, the good news is that a trip to Tamworth may be on the cards for some return fixtures.
Not for reproduction except by permission of the Armidale Express.
