AFL takes over Centennial Park

More than 400 primary school students from the Sydney City and North region descended on Centennial Park on Wednesday for the regional final of the Paul Kelly Cup.

With 26 schools from the City, Eastern Suburbs, Inner West and Northern suburbs involved, there was fierce competition to see which teams would progress to the state finals series in August.Following a morning of round-robin competition, where each team played three games, the top four teams contested the final games.

In the Girls’ competition, South Coogee defeated Kings Langley in the semi final to progress to the grand final, where they faced Willoughby who had beaten Middle Harbour along the way.In a close match, Willoughby emerged the winners by just one goal, downing South Coogee 2 3 15 to 1 3 9.

The Boys’ competition was similarly close, when Neutral Bay took on Cherrybrook after beating Clovelly and Wakehurt respectively. Less than one goal separated the two teams, with Neutral Bay taking the honours 2 5 17 to Cherrybrook’s 2 1 13.

Director and Chief Executive of the Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust Kim Ellis attended the event, and was a huge hit with the students when he spoke to them before tossing the coin at the semi finals.

Ellis said the day was a huge success, and he was pleased to be involved in the Paul Kelly Cup.

“I am thrilled to be a part of the day and thank the AFL for the opportunity. Centennial Parklands is one of Sydney’s most important and most used community sports venues,” he said.

“We believe we have a responsibility to support opportunities such as today’s event to encourage female participation in sport, and congratulate the AFL on this initiative.”