MEET JAI: ASPIRING AFL STAR

The sports excellence program at Palm Beach Currumbin State High School has produced many elite athletes over the years, and student Jai Murray is the latest to emerge

PALM Beach Currumbin is training the next generation of AFL stars through their sports excellence program.

Year 7 student Jai Murray (above) is the latest budding player to taste success after being selected in the 10-12 years Queensland side to compete at the nationals later this year.

Jai, 12, competed for the successful South Coast team at the state titles in Brisbane this month, along with three other Palm Beach Currumbin students .

Jai said before the competition he was nervous but was excited to have been named captain.

“It was really good — I’ve been wanting to make the team for a while now so to be named captain was something else,” he said.

The South Coast team went undefeated throughout the tournament, beating Met North 44-21 in the final, and Jai said it could not have been a better performance.

“I played really well,” he said.

For Jai his hard work has paid off and he will compete for Queensland in the national championships in Western Australia in August.

“It feels really good — I’ve been working for it for a couple of years,” he said.

“It feels like a dream come true and I’ve been working really hard.”

“I train about six times a week and play one game a week.”

While excited for the chance to compete at a high level Jai says the nerves arre there.

“I’m really nervous to go to the nationals,” he said.

Jai, who wants to become a professional AFL player, kicked his first footy from a young age.

“I was watching AFL on television and I thought I wanted to know how to do that too.

“I started picking up the footy and kicking it around and it went from there.”

He played his first games in the under-6s on the Gold Coast.

Jai, a talented athlete, has also played rugby league and been involved in nippers.

This year Jai competed at the Queensland State Nipper titles, winning the under-12 individual board race, surf teams, board relay and Cameron relay. He was part of the team that finished second in the beach relay.

But it is the AFL that Jai wants to pursue.

Barracking for the Sydney Swans, Jai said his favourite player was Isaac Heeney.

“He plays my position and I look up to him — and he looks a bit like me too,” he said.

However, having spent his whole life on the Gold Coast Jai said he wanted to play for the Gold Coast Suns in the future.

The Palm Beach Currumbin State High School sports excellence program is an elite training and coaching program for gifted and talented athletes across many sports.

The program includes three stages with lessons, sport and participation in clinics and long-term athlete development programs.

Lessons also include a focus on elements such as sports nutrition, strength and conditioning, competition preparation and psychology as well as tuition in time management, study skills and goal setting.

Palm Beach Currumbin has tasted success in the past with its AFL graduates including Dayne Beams (Collingwood), Sam Gilbert (former St Kilda) Marc Lock and Joel Wilkinson (former Gold Coast Suns), Tate Day and Claye Beams (ex-Brisbane Lions).

The program has a long list of other sporting royalty among its graduates including surfing stars Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson, and rugby league’s Kevin Proctor and Darius Boyd.