Kobe Burgess and Justin Merceica have spots in the under 13s, Jordyn Carter, Lachlan Carty and Alex Pitt will feature for the under 14s, while Stavros Andronicos is a shadow player for the 13s.

It’s the first time all five have been picked for NSW Country, while Burgess and Merceica are eligible to play at the tournament again next year.

AWFA vice-president of High Performance Simon Randall said 10 players trialled with NSW Country this year which was an excellent achievement. 

They join Albury United trio Lisa Cary, Zarlie Goldsworthy and Piper Lockley-Hinschen as this year’s NSW Country representatives – after they played for the under 15s at Coffs Harbour at the girls National Youth Championship, also at Coffs Harbour in July.

Randall believes the selected players have benefited as part of the Football NSW Talent Support Program (TSP). 

“All of those players were in Riverina teams in 2017 and were noticed at the Football NSW state titles,” Randall said.

“They were invited to three camps this year, one in January, one in April and one in July and two were invited in after the first camp because they were identified through the TSP program.

“Camps are three or four days where they eat, sleep and breathe a semi-professional environment.

“They have been playing against 15 and 16-year-olds on some occasions to get the competition and see where their deficiencies are.

“The staff have everything covered from trainers, strappers and physios to look after the players, so it’s their introduction to a professional outfit and how they’d be treated at a big club.

“It’s a new pathway for Football NSW participants and it has proven its worth.”

Players head into team camp on Friday before travelling to Coffs Harbour on Sunday morning.

Both the under 13s and under 14s boys are in Group B and have five pool games against Newcastle Jets, Football NSW 2, Tasmania, Victoria Metro and Queensland Country.

“The 13s and 14s are now FFA’s peak level for nationals, so most of these players will be earmarked for future development,” Randall said.

“A-League clubs don’t necessarily go to this, it’s more or less the state bodies that identify these players and keep a tab on them.

“If anything does change with football in Australia, it should be in their best interest to be in the program.”

The under 14s face Queensland Country first up on Monday, while the 13s take on Football NSW 2.