Soccer young guns to represent region

JUNIOR soccer players are ready to kit up and represent Greater Bendigo at this weekend’s Victorian country championships.

Operations manager at Bendigo Amateur Soccer League, Lauren Stevens, said this year there’ll be 11 Bendigo squads competing from under-11 to under-16, and just under 170 players in total.

“This year it’ll be hosted by Geelong, every year it moves around to a different host association,” she said.

“We’ve had two years of not being able to have the country championships because of COVID, so we’re really excited this year to finally get the kids back there.”

During COVID-19 restrictions, Ms Stevens said the BASL representative squad still trained, however players are looking forward for the chance to compete against top opponents from Ballarat, Albury and Wodonga, Gippsland, the La Trobe Valley, Mildura, Shepparton, and Warrnambool.

“It’s a really special opportunity for our players,” she said. “They all play at club level and it’s an opportunity for these kids to come together with kids from other clubs across our association.

“It’s really nice for those who want a bit of an extra challenge on top of their club football… it’s an opportunity as well for potential scouting for them.

“These kids just want to play, they want to put on that Bendigo kit and go and represent Bendigo and that’s really what draws them to this program and tournament.”

The tournament kicks off on Saturday, 11 June and concludes on Monday, 13 June.

“We’ve got some squads that are looking very strong, so we expect to see a bit of success at the tournament,” Ms Stevens said.

“We measure the success of this program in lots of different ways, but we’re certainly excited to see some of the results come in.”