Tigers join girls emerging talent squad at Suns

A GROWING number of junior girls from the Tweed Coast Tigers Aussie Rules club are building towards future success after earning a spot in the Gold Coast Suns’ emerging talent squads.

Lani Cowan, Sophie Ella and Milla Johnson have been selected in the Suns’ under-13 girls’ academy team.

It is a high-performance program which aims to provide players with further opportunities to play in representative teams.

Tigers under-13s coach Izzy Topper said the girls have excelled at club level and are ready for the next step in their development.

“All three girls are assets to our Tweed Coast team,” she said.

“Lani has super speed and endurance, Milla has great kicking and marking ability and Sophie is relentless in winning contested balls.”

“Milla and Sophie have just returned from representing North Coast in the Combined High Schools under-15 Girls Australian Football Championships.

“Both girls were two of the youngest players at the championships and played in true Tiger spirit having a very successful tournament.”

Tweed Coolangatta juniors Ciara Corowa and Emelia Malishev were also selected in the under-13 Suns academy, while Abbey Clarke and Shelby Probst were part of the North Coast CHS team.

All players in the under-13 Suns squad are eligible to represent the Gold Coast academy in an exhibition match against the Queensland State School under-12s team on Friday, July 4.

The Tigers have also had a quartet of players in the Suns’ under-18 academy.

Summer Browning, Maddie Campbell, Amelia Ella and Heidi Grimster played along with Tweed Coolangatta’s Ava Maher as part of the 2024 campaign. It wrapped up last weekend with a match against the Brisbane Lions academy.

The representative season saw them take on teams from across NSW, Victoria and south-east Queensland.