CLOSE to 1400 of the state’s emerging junior soccer stars will descend upon Mildura this King’s Birthday Weekend.
The Old Aerodrome Oval complex is set to host the Victorian Country Leagues Football Association (VCLFA) Country Championships for the first time, and some Sunraysia squads are anticipated to be near the top of their divisions.
In 2023, 63 teams and almost 1100 competitors came together for the championships in Ballarat, however, even more teams are anticipated for this year’s event.
While Sunraysia representative teams are usually the ones to travel furthest, this time the respective junior squads will have the home ground advantage.
Sunraysia’s under-18 boys side swept the competition last year to go undefeated, including a 5-0 win in the final over Albury Wodonga. The nucleus of that side still remains this year.
The under-18 girls, meanwhile, were runners-up and are expected to be strong competition again, and the under-15 boys, who are in under-16s this year, were also second.
Football Federation Sunraysia general manager Susan Watts said preparations are taking place before the influx of young footballers.
“To my knowledge Mildura has never hosted this tournament before,” she said.
“We’ve held the South Australian championships in 2014 and 2022 but I believe this is the first time for the Victorian event.
“It will be good, I think everyone is really excited about it, and it’s the most teams I think we’ve ever had from Sunraysia which is fantastic.
“We have three girls teams for the first time ever and boys teams in every grade, and two teams in under-11s which is massive.”
Tournament grades include under-12, 14, 16 and 18 girls, as well as under-11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 18 boys.
Current works include marking pitches, moving goals and getting pitches 11 and 12 prepared for live streaming.
S-League matches took a break last weekend to allow the pitches some extra time to recover prior to the tournament.
Watts said the tournament will have multiple benefits across the board.
“It’s obviously a lot of kids, and from what I’ve heard accommodation is booked out and restaurants and eateries, especially on Saturday night, are pretty heavily booked as well which is great for Sunraysia,” she said.
“It’s great for our kids not to have to travel either because it is something they regularly do at this level.
“Other kids as well who aren’t part of the representative program can actually come down and see the action up close and hopefully it could be a motivating factor in them wanting to give that a go themselves.”
The country championships begin on Saturday.
