Academies clash in battle of the north
ONE of North Queensland’s greatest regional football rivalries was played out when Cairns’ best junior soccer talent hosted Townsville’s finest youngsters in the Battle of the North.
The tournament, which showcased the region’s best young footballers from ages six to 14, was a joint effort between Townsville’s Gareth Edds Soccer Academy and Cairns’ Jamie Gosling Football Academy.
More than 150 players and FORMER US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy will boost the homegrown star power at this month’s Australian PGA Championship on the Gold Coast.
Ogilvy will join fellow Australians Marc Leishman and defending champion Cameron Smith at the RACV Royal Pines Resort from November 29 to December 2.
It will be the 41- year- old’s first appearance at the PGA Championship on the Gold Coast, with his last tilt at the Joe Kirkwood Cup taking place at Coolum in 2012.
Ogilvy – who spent 120 weeks in the world top 10, reaching a career- high ranking of No. 7 – won the 2006 US Open and has collected three World Golf Championship events in his eight US PGA tour wins. He also won the 2008 Australian PGA title and the 2010 Australian Open.
“I believe it is important for Australian golf to create topquality tournaments – that is where success for Australian golf lies,” Ogilvy said.
Australian PGA CEO Gavin Kirkman said securing Ogilvy was a coup.
“Geoff Ogilvy is certainly much admired for both his skill and golf knowledge. Having a player of his standing tee it up at the Australian PGA Championship adds some real gravitas to the field,” he said. 20 teams competed in the sixa- side competition across three age groups: under- 8/ 9, under- 10/ 11 and under- 13/ 14.
GESA teams won the under- 8/ 9s and the under- 10/ 11s competitions, but JGFA’s hometown advantage was enough for them to take out the under- 13/ 14s and prevent a tournament sweep by their southern counterparts.
Gosling said the tournament – the third of its kind following competitions in Cairns in February and Townsville in April – provided an exciting opportunity for local junior soccer players to test themselves against the best.
“I am very proud and excited that our academies could come together again for this tournament,” he said.
“( Gareth and I) share the same views and philosophies on football development in children, and are both very passionate about what we do.
“I think these games and the future tournaments we have planned add a new dimension to the academy, as well as creating more path- FLOYD Mayweather says he never agreed to come out of retirement to fight a Japanese kickboxer on New Year’s Eve and was “completely blindsided” when the event was announced at a news conference he attended in Tokyo this week.
Mayweather said on Instagram he agreed only to a three- round exhibition in front of a “small group of wealthy spectators for a very large fee”, with no intention of it being an official fight card or televised worldwide. ways and opportunities for our young football players in far north Queensland.”
Gosling said he was thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity for junior football players in Cairns.
“Our mission is to develop these young players with extra specialist coaching for the ultimate benefit of their local clubs and far north Queensland football in general,” he said.
“We want to develop them as individuals, and ultimately strengthen junior soccer in the region.”
“Once I arrived to the press conference, my team and I were completely derailed by the new direction this event was going and we should have put a stop to it immediately,” Mayweather said.
He apologised for the “very misleading information that was announced”.
The five- time boxing world champion retired with a perfect professional record of 50- 0 after defeating UFC star Conor McGregor last year. At the news conference, it was announced Mayweather, 41, would top the bill at Rizin Fighting Federation’s next card on December 31 against 20- year- old Tenshin Nasukawa, who competes in MMA and kickboxing and has won all four of his cage fights.
“I want it to be clear that I, Floyd Mayweather, never agreed to an official bout with Tenshin Nasukawa,” he wrote. “In fact ( with all due respect) I have never heard of him until this recent trip to Japan.”
Rizin didn’t immediately reply when asked for comment.