Nyngan juniors showcase skills

Originally published in The Nyngan Weekly

Nyngan junior footballers will showcase their skills at Bathurst this weekend as part of the Dubbo and District Junior Rugby League (DDJRL) development teams.

Nyngan Junior Rugby League Club president Andrew Burley said he is proud of the juniors who trialled for the teams and is excited for those successful to further develop their skills.

“For a little club we do pretty well,” he said.

DDJRL put a call out for trials last month and Mr Burley said the club put it out to all players to trial.

“It’s pretty good, the kids are all excited about it. The good thing is they get to meet other kids too that also really love their footy.”

Burley said he was particularly pleased to see Nyngan players selected in the league tag teams.

As the sport continues to grow he said it was great to see there was a league tag competition going ahead in the Bathurst carnival.

“It’s good to see the league tag going ahead. Our league tag teams are going pretty well in the competition too, so it’s a credit to the kids and their parents.”

Burley said the junior club tries to uplift their players where possible and ensure they get the best start in footy possible.

“We try our hardest to give them good opportunities. You just have to look at the success of the under 18s this year. They’ve been our under 16s for the past couple of years.

“We’re a small club but I think we’re run pretty well.”

One of the selected players, Ava Cummings, is in her first year of league tag.

“It’s my first year playing league tag. A lot of my friends do it and I thought it always looked like a lot of fun,” said Ava.

She was one of only two new people on her team but said that she has felt very welcomed by the club.

“Everyone else has been playing for a while, I kind of understood the game okay, because we were playing it sometimes at school.”

Ava decided to trial for the team when the call went out because she thought it would be a good experience and lots of fun. 22 girls trialled for her team, with the 16 selected announced on the day.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen but I thought it would be a lot of fun to try.”

Selected players were required to travel to Dubbo three times to train with their teams before the carnival this Saturday.

Ava said that the training sessions have been good as a way to learn about other players and the game.

“I think we’re all getting to know each other pretty well, they’re all pretty good players so it’s very different to normal training. I think you can never stop learning in league tag.”

Ava hopes to continue playing league tag after this season and has caught the footy bug, ready to play as often as she can.

Ahead of the carnival she said she’s feeling nervous but is excited to go, and will be travelling to Bathurst with her dad.

Ava’s mum, Geraldine Hando, said they’re very proud of Ava’s efforts.

“It’s a really good opportunity. She’s enjoying her league tag and a good thing with one of these weekends you get to play lots of games.

“For someone in their first season, it’s great to get those games and really learn the game from there.”

Mr Burley said that those selected in representative teams can’t do it without the support of their parents and thanked parents for their time and dedication in assisting their children to get there.