AWFA rep teams win SIX state titles at Victorian Country Championships

AWFA teams reached nine of the 12 finals in Geelong and five of those teams went on to claim the state title outright, while the under-14 boys were named joint-champions after a goalless draw with Ballarat.

The under-16 girls thumped Bendigo 5-0 in their final and the under-12 boys ran out 2-0 winners against Ballarat.

AWFA's under-15 boys edged past Bendigo 2-1 and AWFA Black won the under-11 boys final by the same scoreline against Shepparton, while the under-12 girls beat hosts Geelong 1-0.

Also featuring on finals day were the under-16 boys, under-14 girls and under-11 girls, leaving AWFA president Greg Scott full of praise for the youngsters who represented the region to such a high standard.

"It was sensational," Scott said.

"It shows the resilience of the kids and also the work they've been putting in with the coaches, not just this year but over the past couple of years.

"It was a struggle having much competition over the last two years but we did have rep squads named and they did train so this is the accumulation of a number of years of hard work.

"Making eight out of the 10 finals in the age groups we were in, and coming up in six of them, is sensational.

"When we talk to other sports and other associations, our numbers are quite healthy compared to some others.

"Yes, it could be better and yes, every sport has suffered because of COVID but in general, AWFA's actually doing really well, particularly with our juniors.

"It gives us really good encouragement that not only are we going well now but we've got a lot of prospects for the future. It looks good for the association."

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Retaining this talent pool as the players grow up is now AWFA's biggest challenge.

"It's that 15/16-year age group which is a struggle for every sport and it's always been the case," Scott said.

"COVID has probably made that even more so and we're looking at what we can do to encourage kids to stay in the sport, even looking at extending the rep program.

"We go to under-16s at the moment; do we take it up to under-18s?

"That's an option for us.

"We're looking at how else we might be able to improve the rep program but also working with the clubs on their retention strategies.

"We're looking at how we can do things differently and what else we can do to help attract kids to the sport and keep them engaged in the sport."

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