The finest young football talent in the region has been rewarded for its efforts at the inaugural South East Juniors/AFL South East Regional Top-Age Awards Night at Bunjil Place in Narre Warren.
The inaugural combined event saw the cream of the crop from the SEJ share the stage with the eye-catching top-age players in the region – consisting of under-17 boys and under-18 girls from both the SEJ and Frankston and Districts Junior Football League (FDJFL).
Season 2019 saw the introduction of the AFLSE Regional Top-Age competition, with the main objective to create sustainable and even competitions that provide an incentive for boys and girls to continue to play football.
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.
Riley Hilliard (pictured) from Beaconsfield was the biggest winner on the night, claiming the Under 12 Blue Best and Fairest award with 36 votes, enough for a three-vote victory in the much sough-after Lindsay Patching Medal – awarded to the highest vote-getter across all divisions of the SEJ.
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.
Narre North Foxes took out the prestigious Best Conducted Club Award, while Shadia Haidar from Noble Park and Mark O’Brien from Narre Warren shared the Volunteer of the Year Award.
Noah Balica from Noble Park won the coveted Young Club Person of the Year.
Craig Talbot (Berwick), Glenn Lyons and Kirsty Lebusque (Pakenham) made a clean sweep of the coaches awards, while Jackson Hamilton, Thomas Kreun and Lachlan Vienna were rewarded for their terrific efforts in the umpiring ranks.
The stage is now set for a bumper SEJ grand final day, where 16 teams will become 2019 premiers.
The grand final action takes place this Sunday at Narre Warren and Pakenham, with the Top-Age preliminary finals to be held at Shepley Oval and Frankston Park.
AFL South East would like to congratulate all award winners and wish all grand final teams the very best of luck.
To purchase photos of last night’s event go to; https://garybradshaw.com.au/portfolio/frankie-photography-2019
LEAGUE BEST AND FAIREST WINNERS | |||||
AFL SOUTH EAST REGIONAL TOP-AGE | FIRST NAME | SURNAME | CLUB | VOTES |
BEST CONDUCTED CLUBS |
Under 18 Girls | Jayde | Smith | Berwick | 28 | |
Under 17 Premier A | Declan | Cole | Mount Eliza | 20 | |
Under 17 Premier B | Colby | Nayna | Carrum Patterson Lakes | 22 | |
Under 17 Premier C | Barkley | Kepae | Pines | 16 | |
Mason | Weiser | Pines | 16 | ||
Under 17 Division One | Jye | Moli | Langwarrin | 19 | |
Under 17 Division Two | Mitchell | Kemish | Lyndhurst | 23 | |
SOUTH EAST JUNIORS | |||||
McDonalds Under 12 Red | Noah | Morrell | Berwick | 25 | Berwick Blue |
McDonalds Under 12 Blue | Riley | Hilliard | Beaconsfield | 36 | Noble Park |
McDonalds Under 12 White | Tom | Coldebella | Parkmore | 17 | Berwick Springs Blue |
Garrleigh Trophies Under 13 Red | Joshua | Greig | Pakenham | 30 | Narre North Foxes Black |
Garrleigh Trophies Under 13 Blue | Adam | Snelling | Berwick | 19 | Tooradin-Dalmore |
McDonalds Under 14 Girls | Jessica | Pacevski | Narre North Foxes | 20 | Berwick White |
Elisha | Lane | Berwick | 20 | ||
Shanae | Hawker | Pakenham | 20 | ||
McDonalds Under 14 Red | Jack | Wilson | Narre South Lions | 19 | Berwick Springs Blue |
McDonalds Under 14 Blue | Andrew | Samawi | Beaconsfield | 25 | Cora Lynn |
McDonalds Under 14 White | Jeran | Gunaratnam | Narre North Foxes | 25 | Narre North Foxes Grey |
Totally Workwear Under 15 D1 | Jaxon | Binns | Berwick | 19 | Narre North Foxes Black |
Totally Workwear Under 15 D2 | Brice | L’etang | Narre North Foxes | 16 | Berwick Blue |
McDonalds Under 16 Girls | Amber | Clarke | Narre North Foxes | 33 | Cranbourne Blue |
McDonalds Under 11 Red | Narre North Foxes | ||||
McDonalds Under 11 Blue | Beaconsfield White | ||||
McDonalds Under 11 White | Officer Blue | ||||
McDonalds Under 12 Girls | Berwick White | ||||
Lindsay Patching Medalist | Riley | Hilliard | Beaconsfield | 36 | |
CLUB, PEOPLE, COACH AND UMPIRE AWARDS | |||||
Junior Coach of the Year | Glenn | Lyons | Pakenham | ||
Youth Coach of the Year | Craig | Talbot | Berwick | ||
Female Coach of the Year | Kirsty | Lebusque | Pakenham | ||
Volunteer of the Year | Shadia | Haidar | Noble Park | ||
Mark | O’Brien | Narre Warren | |||
Young Club Person of the Year | Noah | Balica | Noble Park | ||
Goal Umpire of the Year | Jackson | Hamilton | |||
Boundary Umpire of the Year | Thomas | Kreun | |||
Field Umpire of the Year | Lachlan | Vienna | |||
Best Conducted Club | Narre North Foxes |