Cairns school program proves winner
A FOCUS on the development of female football players has led Cairns State High School to the North Queensland final in the Bill Turner Trophy.
Cairns SHS will travel to Kirwan today to take on Mackay SHS in the regional final, with a place in the state final in Brisbane on the line.
The team swept aside its Far North Queensland rivals, thumping five fellow teams by scoring an average of 9.4 goals and allowing less than one.
Coached by Cairns SHS head of sport Martin Fehlberg, the squad comprises members of the school’s centre of excellence program, who train multiple times per week for 40 weeks per year.
The team includes some of the most talented players in FNQ, including Aleeah Davern, who will miss today’s game as she will be in Canberra for the National Training Centre Challenge, and the recently crowned national champion Morgan Stanton. Stanton scored four goals, including a hat-trick against South Australia, to help Queensland win the under-14s National Youth Championship for Girls at Coffs Harbour last week, and is also part of the Talent Support Program.
Of the current squad, 11 members have represented Peninsula, with four named as either full or shadow members of the Queensland squad.
All games will be played in two 30-minute halves, with 20 minutes of golden goal extra time allocated in the event of a draw.
If the game is still tied, a penalty shootout will decide who qualifies for the final 16.