World Footy News

Fiji will host the 2011 AFL Oceania Youth Cup in December.  In preparation the Fiji Day AFL Cup was staged featuring teams from six schools, with interest from others for future participation.

A highlight of the day was members of the senior Fiji Tribe squad, fresh from their win in Division Two of the 2011 AFL International Cup, getting involved in developing the next generation of talent.

The following is a press release from AFL Fiji with all the details of the day.

The torrential downpour over the long weekend did not deter over one-hundred and twenty local high school students from attending the “Australian Football League (AFL) Fiji Day Cup” on Monday. The Veiuto School grounds were ankle deep in water in some areas but the competition went on as planned.

AFL Asia-Pacific Development Manager Andrew Cadzow was very surprised by the turnout, “It’s great to see the weather didn’t stop these students wanting to play footy (AFL) today.” 

Cadzow was in attendance for the weekend to assist AFL Fiji committee and senior players coordinating the event. “I was very pleased to see 15-20 senior Fiji Players present helping out with coaching and umpiring throughout the day, now passing on their knowledge to younger players.” added Cadzow.

Andrew is also in Fiji to assist in the selection process for the Fiji national Under 16 team that will participate in the AFL Oceania Cup in December this year.

Cadzow was impressed with the talent on display at the competition, “There was plenty of players with some exciting skills today. We are looking to form the Fiji Under 16 team to play in December and the Fijians are looking very strong.”

Six Teams competed on the day based from Nausori, Nabua and Raiwaqa. Players have been training extensively over the last two to three weeks under the guidance of several senior Fiji Tribe players that competed in Australia in August.   

AFL Fiji Development Officer Glen Butler will be making the final selection of the Fiji Under 16 squad this Sunday. “We are planning to hold another trial day to finalise a training squad that will then work towards competing in the Oceania Cup.” Butler said.

Schools in various areas of Fiji have also shown an interest in playing AFL. “I have received calls from schools in Labasa, Lautoka and Tailevu, it would be great to spread footy to these parts and have AFL players represent these towns in December.” Butler said.

The Final Match from Monday’s Fiji Day Cup was played out between the two Raiwaqa Bulldogs teams who were both dominant throughout the day. Maciu Raida has been coaching in Raiwaqa over the last three weeks and was very pleased with the Bulldogs performance.

“These boys have been training for only a few weeks now but have shown big improvement in such a short time.” Raida said.

The final scores:

Raiwaqa Bulldogs (Red) 7.3 (45)
Raiwaqa Bulldogs (Stripes) 2.2 (14)