A huge week in the South East Juniors kicked off at the magnificent Bunjil Place in Narre Warren on Thursday night with the finest young talent in the SEJ acknowledged at the 2018 Garrleigh Trophies Awards Night.
Best and fairest winners across 18 divisions were announced, with the top five from each division also acknowledged for their great play throughout the season.
Georgia Malkoun from the Narre North Foxes was the biggest winner on the night, claiming the Under 14 Girls Best and Fairest award with 31 votes, enough for a one-vote victory in the much sough after Lindsay Patching Medal.
And it wasn’t just the players who took centre stage, with clubs, volunteers, coaches and umpires also rewarded for their magnificent efforts across the course of the season.
Hampton Park took out the prestigious Best Conducted Club Award, while Chris Adair from Hampton Park was named the Volunteer of the Year, and Dante Schmutter from Berwick won the coveted Young Club Person of the Year.
Daniel Brown, Len Fletcher and Robert Jamieson made a clean sweep of the coaches awards, while Matt Hardy, Zac Mousaco and Kyle Van Raay were rewarded for their terrific efforts in the umpiring ranks.
The stage is now set for a bumper grand final day, where 22 teams will become 2018 premiers.
The action kicks off this Sunday at 8.30am at Barry Simon Reserve, with grand finals to also be played at Pakenham, Clyde and Casey Fields.
The SEJ would like to congratulate all award winners and wish all grand final teams the very best of luck.
| LEAGUE BEST AND FAIREST | |||||
| WINNERS | |||||
| DIVISION | FIRST NAME | SURNAME | CLUB | VOTES | BEST CONDUCTED CLUBS |
| McDonalds Under 11 Red | Noah | Morrell | Berwick | 27 | Beaconsfield Gold |
| McDonalds Under 11 Blue | Riley | Hilliard | Beaconsfield | 22 | Lyndhurst Orange |
| McDonalds Under 11 White | Alex | Chandler | Noble Park | 25 | Cranbourne Gold |
| McDonalds Under 12 Red | Max | Setches | Beaconsfield | 21 | Berwick White |
| McDonalds Under 12 Blue | Mason | Hall | Pakenham | 28 | Officer Blue |
| McDonalds Under 12 White | Thando | Gazi | Berwick North | 22 | Kooweerup |
| Bendigo Bank Under 13 Red | Kane | Rudy | Pakenham | 30 | Beaconsfield Gold |
| Bendigo Bank Under 13 Blue | Jeran | Gunaratnam | Berwick North | 24 | Noble Park |
| Bendigo Bank Under 13 White | Muharem | Muja | Hampton Park | 14 | Hampton Park |
| McDonalds Under 14 Girls | Georgia | Malkoun | Narre North Foxes | 31 | Narre North Foxes |
| McDonalds Under 14 Red | Mitchell | Szybkowski | Beaconsfield | 27 | Beaconsfield Blue |
| McDonalds Under 14 Blue | James | Voss | Kooweerup | 22 | Beaconsfield Gold |
| Totally Workwear Under 15 D1 | Miller | Bergman | Berwick | 23 | Beaconsfield Blue |
| Totally Workwear Under 15 D2 | Cody | Murphy | Noble Park | 20 | Berwick Springs Green |
| Tearoa | Papatua | Narre South Lions | 20 | ||
| Totally Workwear Premier 1 | Antonio | Quach | Berwick | 17 | Beaconsfield Blue |
| Totally Workwear Premier 2 | Dylan | Vanderwert | Berwick | 18 | Endeavour Hills |
| Totally Workwear Premier 3 | Matthew | Birnie | Tooradin-Dalmore | 22 | Berwick Springs Green |
| McDonalds Youth Girls | Lauree | Metcalfe | Berwick | 24 | Hampton Park/Beaconsfield Blue |
| McDonalds Under 12 Girls | Beaconsfield Blue | ||||
| CLUB, PEOPLE, COACH AND UMPIRE AWARDS | |||||
| Junior Coach of the Year | Daniel | Brown | Noble Park | ||
| Youth Coach of the Year | Len | Fletcher | Berwick Springs | ||
| Female Coach of the Year | Robert | Jamieson | Narre North Foxes | ||
| Volunteer of the Year | Chris | Adair | Hampton Park | ||
| Young Club Person of the Year | Dante | Schmutter | Berwick | ||
| Goal Umpire of the Year | Matt | Hardy | |||
| Boundary Umpire of the Year | Zac | Mousaco | |||
| Field Umpire of the Year | Kyle | Van Raay | |||
| Best Conducted Club | Hampton Park | ||||
| Lindsay Patching Medalist | Georgia | Malkoun | Narre North Foxes | 31 Votes | |
