NSW Performs Well at the Schools’ Championships in Adelaide

School Sport Australia’s Under 19 National Football Championships were held in Adelaide during the last week in November.

This year the championships were part of the Pacific School Games and therefore involved teams from overseas (India, Pakistan, Macao and China), as well as from six states and territories in Australia.

Both the NSW Boys and Girls squads were below full strength for a variety of reasons, and the Boys particularly were affected by late withdrawals. However, both squads played excellent football, especially the replacement players. Credit for this must go to all the players but especially to their coaching staffs led by Pat Marando (Boys) and Chris Bradley (Girls).

The NSW Boys won every game at the tournament and were Gold Medal winners. They supplied the Boys Players of the Tournament, Leonardo Malfara, and had ten players out of eighteen selected in the Australian Schoolboys squad, plus another six players in the Shadows squad.

The NSW Girls won the Silver Medal, losing only one game. They finished equal on points with Gold Medal winners Victoria, but they were relegated to second place because Victoria defeated NSW 2-0 in one of the games. Four NSW players were selected in the Australian Schoolgirls squad, plus another two players in the Shadows squad.

Congratulations to all the participants who represented NSW with pride and enjoyed their Adelaide experience.

Full details of the tournament including results, final standings, Australian Schoolboys and Schoolgirls selections and photographs, can be found on the following web pages:

http://nswschoolsfootball.org.au/national-championships-girls-2015/

http://nswschoolsfootball.org.au/national-championships-boys-2015/