Excitement builds for inaugural Barwon Region Showcase

TALENTED young footballers will get the chance to test their skills in the inaugural Barwon Region Showcase on Wednesday, July 16.

The six teams have been revealed for the blockbuster day of competition at Leopold Memorial Park.

The showcase is a representative program delivered by the Geelong Falcons with AFL Barwon to provide an opportunity for talented players in the Barwon region to compete against each other in a day of games.

The games also serve as selection trials for the under-15 V/Line Cup and provide opportunities for coaches in the community to have a taste of higher-level representative football.

There are four boys’ outfits and two girls’ sides and the teams are named after Geelong Falcons legends including Patrick Dangerfield, Luke Hodge, Sam Walsh, Gary Ablett junior, Sara Howley and Nina Morrison.

There will be three full-length games across the day with two boys’ matches and one girls’ game.

Players had to be born in 2010 to be eligible for selection.

Geelong Falcons talent lead Jesse Drever said there typically was not an interleague opportunity on offer for age groups below the under-15 V/Line Cup and they wanted to address that.

The decision was made to try intraleague and pit the best players in the region against each other.

“It’s going to be a really exciting chance for some of the players to play a bit of high-level footy,” Drever said.

“And then for us, it also adds the extra benefit of helping as part of the selection process for V/Line Cup.”

The V/Line Cup will take place in Ballarat in September, where the Falcons will play against other regions from around the state.

Fixture:

Team Ablett v Team Dangerfield 10am

Team Howley v Team Morrison noon

Team Hodge v Team Walsh 2pm.