Tough call bears fruit
WHILE it might have been a contentious decision at the time, North Queensland Football general manager Declan Carnes knows he made the right choice to hand in the organisation’s National Premier League licence last year.
And there is no more evidence of it than in the region’s burgeoning junior crops.
NQ Football will be represented by eight aspiring junior footballers at next month’s FFA National Youth Championship in Coffs Harbour, NSW.
It is more than the association has ever sent away for the championships, with juniors pulling on the Queensland Country kit in under-13s and under-14s.
Carnes believes that is a result of the increased funding for the junior pathways program, known as the Talent Support Program (TSP). NQ Football redirected its funds from the abandoned NPL license into the program and were matched by the state governing body, Football Queensland.
The decision to do so has opened the juniors to more quality training programs with specialised coaches, as well as given them more exposure to Football Queensland talent scouts and technical staff.
“The kids have already gone away to face some National Premier League juniors in Brisbane, and at every event they play in they are in front of Queensland Football technical staff,” Carnes said.
“That (level of exposure) has never happened for our juniors.
“We have got four out of the (Queensland Country) under-13s and four out of the under-14s that have made it. It has never happened before that we have had that many.
“It is a brilliant result as a result of handing back our North Queensland (NPL) licence.”
Lachlan Buckman, Jake Cottam, Dylan Heath and Lachlan Hutchings will represent NQ Football in the Queensland Country under-13 side, while Deegan Brook, James Haydon, Ray Heijneman and Dylan Meinicke will play in the under-14s ranks.