WA claims 4th consecutive KickStart ChampionshipThursday, April 17, 2014 - 11:34 AM

Western Australia’s Under 15 KickStart team won the National Championship at Coffs Harbour, NSW, yesterday for the fourth year in a row.

WA’s inaugural All Nations team also performed well, finishing second after a narrow grand final loss to a combined Victoria/Tasmania team.

The 2014 Under 15 National KickStart Championships and inaugural Australia Post All Nations Cup grand finals were both played yesterday, Wednesday April 16, at the Coffs Harbour International Sports Park.

In the National KickStart Championships grand final Western Australian, coached by Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, defeated Northern Territory by 68 points. Tere Yarran was named the best player for WA. A total of 12 players from WA were also selected in the Indigenous Flying Boomerangs squad.

Victoria/Tasmania, coached by David Rodan, defeated Western Australia to win the 9-a-side Australia Post All Nations Cup. Tarir Bayok was named best player for WA and for the entire tournament. A total of six players from WA were selected in the World Team.

SCOREBOARD

National KickStart Championships grand final:

WA: 14.14 (98) defeated NT: 4.6 (30)

Goals – WA: Pickett (3), Garlett (2), Jones (2), McGuire (2), Hayden, Polard, Rhods, Dann, Johns

NT: McLennan, Greenoff, Shadforth.

Best – WA: Rhodes, Hayden, Dann, Yarran, Pickett. NT: Grant, Maroney, Baird, McLennan, Shadforth

Australia Post All Nations Cup grand final:

VIC/TAS  6.9 (45) defeated WA 4.9 (33)

Goals – VIC/TAS: Atem (4), Jaith, Szydlik. WA: Bayok, Gare, Nani

Best – VIC/TAS: Atem, Jiath, Brown, Szydlik, McLaren. WA: Bayok, Maguang, Sabir, Nani, Bility

Supported by the Coles AFL Indigenous Program, the KickStart Championships provides players with an opportunity to test themselves against the best emerging Indigenous players from around the country at Under 15 level. The best performing players are selected for the national Indigenous Flying Boomerangs squad by head coach Eugene Warrior.

The inaugural Australia Post All Nations Cup is a feature event of the Australia Post AFL Multicultural program and all six teams competing featured players from multicultural backgrounds, with each state represented.

To be eligible for the All Nations Cup Squad, players must have been born overseas and come from a non-English speaking background. The junior multicultural stars form the basis of selection for the Australian representatives in the World Team, which will compete in the NAB AFL Under 16 Championships and be coached by Anthony Koutoufides.