The National Diversity Championships
Written by Caitlin Arnold
AFL NSW/ACT would like to extend their thanks to the ‘All Nations’ and ‘Kickstart’ teams who travelled from Sydney, Wagga Wagga, Canberra, Gundagai, Kempsey, Coffs Harbour, Batemans Bay and Bega last week to compete in the National Diversity Championships in Cairns.
The All Nations team, led by East Sydney Bulldog and Sydney Swans Academy player, Nathan Harapin showed exceptional spirit and energy during the course of the championship, and overcame Western Australia on the third day of the competition.
Alongside his congratulations to the traveling Under 16s squad, Head Coach of the All Nations team, Marc Geppert was full of praise for West Juniors product, midfielder Moustafa Sattout who was awarded the state’s Most Valuable Player at the conclusion of the tournament.
“Moustafa has a natural knack of finding the football,” says Geppert.
“He attacks the football at great pace and has great agility, which means he is quite hard to tackle.
“During the National Diversity Championships he really found his feet deep in defense, but he also plays extremely well on the ball at club level. His competitive instinct makes him a reliable defender.”
“All in all, he is a well-rounded player,” adds Assistant Coach, Tim Schmidt.
Making the ‘Flying Boomerangs’ squad were Cooper Kilpatrick and Shaydon Close who were selected for the honour on the final day of the tournament.
Not only will Kilpatrick and Close have the chance to represent their country and Indigenous people, but they will also participate in a personal development and leadership program along with their 23 teammates.
Chris Holten who plays for Macleay Valley Eagles in Kempsey was also named NSW/ACT Kickstart Most Valuable Player at the championships.
Adding to the many achievements of the New South Wales and ACT players throughout the championship, Moustafa Sattout, Nathan Harapin and Jacob Ochieng were selected in a 30 man ‘World Team’ following the tournament.
With the final 25 man squad to be announced in one months’ time, we congratulate Sattout, Harapin and Ochieng on their outstanding achievement.
Once both of the final 25 man squads are announced, the World Team and the Flying Boomerangs will compete at the Under 16s National Championships to be held on the Gold Coast in July 2015.
We wish our New South Wales and ACT players all the very best for their time in the World and the Flying Boomerangs squads, and extend a big thank you to all the coaching staff and players involved in a successful tournament.
