LIAM PHILLIPS
THE best junior country footballers
in South Australia
descended on Clare Oval on
Sunday morning for the Central
Zone under-15 carnival,
with the Barossa, Light &
Gawler Football Association
(BL&GFA) side winning the
day by finishing undefeated
from its four games.
In its first game, BL&G
beat Yorke Peninsula 3.2 (20)
to 1.3 (9) as the matches were
significantly shortened to allow
the opportunity to play
four times in one day.
BL&G followed up that
win with a 8.5 (53) to zero
domination of Adelaide
Plains, before edging out a
tight one against North Eastern
3.3 (21) to 3.1 (19).
In its final game, BL&G
beat Northern Areas 4.4 (28)
to 2.2 (14), securing the carnival
win.
BL&G coach Allan Norton
said this carnival was not all
about winning, stressing the
fact that the key function of
these kinds of development
sides is giving kids an opportunity
to learn and grow.
“The focus really wasn’t on
winning, although every footballer
goes out there trying to
win every game,” he said.
“There’s not a lot of
switching of the play in the
BL&G under-15s, so ball
movement and shepherding
and basic structures were the
focus throughout.
“It’s hard to teach young
kids these kinds of things, so
we’re not only trying to develop
their footy skills, but
also their mental processing
and ability to accept change
and adapt accordingly.
“We have a squad of 34,
and only 21 were able to come
up for the carnival, so it was
a good chance to have a look
at that group while the 13 who
didn’t get a go will have a
chance to prove themselves in
the association games leading
up to the State Championships
in September.”
Norton said there were many
young stars on the talented representative
side, but none shone
brighter than Barossa District’s
Dyson Sharp.
“One of the problems with
getting a group like this together
when I hadn’t seen
them play before is at the end
of the day, we’ve basically
got 22 on-ballers because
that’s where the strong lads
play,” he said.
“So it was about working
out who can play in other
positions and where they
are most natural, and Dyson
Sharp up forward was incredibly
impressive.
“He’s a big strong lad who
was very good across half
forward, and he also played
good stints in the ruck – he’s
such a strong kid both in the
air and below his knees.
“Jett Assender from Tanunda
was great too – he’s
an on-baller as well, but I
put him in the backlines and
he took to that like a fish to
water.
“Mitch Tidswell from
Gawler Central was really
strong too – he played at
both ends of the ground, but
he probably played his best
games for the carnival down
back and caught my eye.”