By Callum Ludwig
The Outer East’s Junior Interleague Football sides have gotten underway at this year’s Interleague Carnival which began on Wednesday 8 June and concludes for the Outer East Football Netball League (OEFNL) sides on Queen’s Birthday, Monday 13 June.
The Under 15 and 17 Boys and Under 14, 16 and 18 Girls all played their first game against their Mornington Peninsula Junior Football League counterparts in night games on Wednesday 8 June, with all sides competing strongly with the U14 Girls the only side missing out on a win.
OEFNL Junior Operations Officer Andy Gibbons said the selection process started as early as February.
“Up to 60 to 70 kids for each age group were invited to the trial phase, which was then whittled down to 50 for the training squad and then 26 to 28 players selected to make the teams,” he said.
“This year, in partnership with Project Gap, we ran a training and testing day like they do in the AFL draft as well as trial games against Mornington Peninsula. “
Project Gap, based in Kilsyth, offer athletic development and rehabilitation services with systems from elite sporting environments.
Mr Gibbons said the carnival is a great opportunity for players to get to know the players they come up against in their local sides.
“Come the time for club footy, they’ve gotten to know each other and if there’s any trouble, they say ‘Hey don’t do that, he’s my mate from interleague’,” he said.
“My boys were in the program and are still in contact with some of the boys they played with, all the way up to playing seniors now. It’s a great way for the players to play alongside some of the best in their league and make new friendships.”
On Saturday 11 June, the OEFNL sides, joined by the U13 Boys side who had a bye, will take on the South East Juniors at the Narre Warren Junior Ovals One and Two. The boys’ sides will play on the first oval starting with the U13s at 10.30am, U15s at 12.30pm and U17s at 2.30pm while the girls will play on the second oval with the U14s starting at 10am, U16s at 12pm and U18s at 2pm.
Mr Gibbons said while it has been hard bringing back all players after the last two Covid-interrupted seasons, the Outer East junior competition is going alrigh this season.
“It’s been hard getting like getting all the teams set and I think for the clubs, it’s probably been extra hard to lock down the teams that they wanted to have because there’s a lot of kids that that may not have wanted to play again,” he said.
“But we’ve had eight rounds and settled it down a bit now and they’re just enjoying getting out there and playing, we’ve got all our competitions, with three divisions in Under 13 Boys and two divisions in Under 15 Boys and a new Under 12 Girls competition up and running, as well as our Friday night Under 9’s competition going from strength to strength.”
The final interleague games will take place on Monday 13 June, Queen’s Birthday, as OEFNL players take on Frankston District Junior Football League at Officer Junior Football Club. The boys’ sides will play on the West Oval while the girls will play on the East Oval all with the same timetable as the game against the South East games.
Mr Gibbons said he wanted to thank the Interleaguecoaches and Project Gap for their work in the lead-up to the carnival.
“I’d like to thank the coaches that put their hand up for the interleague because it is a volunteer position that we call on and they’ve been involved since the end of February,” he said.
“And I would like to thank Project Gap who came on board for our testing day, they’ve been fantastic, it was the first time we ran it and it ran like clockwork with them running it.”
