Six players from AWFA to represent Country NSW at National Youth Championships

The under-14 boys squad includes Reuben Haley (Cobram Roar) and Ben Sredojevic (Albury City), with Wodonga Heart's Jonathon Hassan having been named in the under-15 squad.

Rylee Steele has made the under-14 girls squad, while her Albury Hotspurs team-mate Keely Halloway will play for the under-16s alongside Summer Caponecchia of Myrtleford Savoy.

"I'm really proud of them and they deserve it," Hotspurs coach Justin Wild said.

"They work hard at training and they've got some real talent.

"Keely's been phenomenal.

"She normally plays in defence for us and often the defensive players don't get the media coverage that other girls do because they're not scoring goals every week but she prevents so many things for us.

"I took her out of the back line a few weeks ago for a bit of a run up the field and we started leaking a few goals, so I put her back in there and, all of a sudden, the goals have gone again.

"She's a quiet achiever who just goes about her business and does it really well.

"She's deceptively quick as well.

"People don't realise but she can keep up with the best of them, she's physically strong and she's got a good touch and great technique.

"She's got all bases covered.

"Rylee's the youngest player in our senior squad.

"She's still under-14 but she's had a phenomenal year.

"Normally I play her in the midfield, where she's often up against larger and stronger girls but her technical ability means she can get the better of them.

"She hates if she's on the bench; she wants to play all the time."

Halloway and Steele, like Caponecchia, play Division 1 football every week.

"I believe it definitely helps the girls when they go and play in those trials," Wild said.

"One thing the country girls notice whenever they play against the city sides is that it's so much more physical and the referees allow a lot more physical contact.

"When they're playing juniors around here, it's a lot less demanding on their bodies and if they get any contact, they normally get a free-kick, but in the cities, they have to use their body and wait for those collisions.

"Playing in the seniors, where it is against women and it can be a bit more physical, is great preparation for them and I think that showed in the trials.

"Pretty much every girl from this region had a really good chance of making those teams.

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"It's great for our region that we've got so many boys and girls making those teams.

"It says a lot for our local competition, how strong it is and it shows how the coaches are developing their players at all levels.

"They train with their clubs, they train with their rep teams, they train with their TSP squads, they do a lot of training with different coaches and they're all doing their part to make them really good players."

The National Youth Championships will be played in Coffs Harbour from September 19-30.

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