AFL Under-19 Championships
The AFL Under-19 Championships (for sponsorship reasons, the NAB AFL Under-19 Championships) is an annual Australian national underage representative championship in Australian rules football tournament. It is seen as one of the main pathways towards being drafted into a team in the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL).
Current season, competition or edition: 2022 AFL Under 19 Championships | |
| Formerly | Teal Cup (1953–1995) |
|---|---|
| Sport | Australian rules football |
| Inaugural season | 1953 |
| Administrator | Australian Football League |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Most recent champion(s) | (D1) Western Australia (2019) |
| Most titles | (D1) Vic Metro (17) (D2) Tasmania (8) |
| TV partner(s) | Fox Footy (Div. 1 games) |
| Sponsor(s) | National Australia Bank |
| Related competitions | AFL Women's Under 18 Championships |
The National Championships grew out of the Teal Cup which began in 1953 as a junior representative competition between the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales. It was rebranded in 1976 to reflect its expansion to include teams from each Australian state and mainland territory, rotated between host cities. In the absence of a national league, and less regular senior competition, it grew into one of the most important competitions in the country. Early on it was an Under-17 competition, however the age limit has been progressively increased and separate junior championships added for Under-15 level (commencing as the "Shell Cup" now AFL Under-16 National Championships) from the 1970s onwards. It was a major talent pathway for underage players outside of Victoria to the VFL. As part of the AFL Commission's role as national governing body the Victorian TAC Cup competition was restructured in 1992 to become the primary pathway to the AFL. As a result representative development sides from NSW/ACT and Tasmania for a time have played in that competition instead. However in recent years the National Championships has regained its status as a primary AFL recruitment pathway as the growth of the sport outside Victoria has accelerated.
The current competition is contested as a hybrid representative format. The best players from the Academy competitions (AFL club feeder teams) combine to form an 'Allies' team in conjunction with South Australia, Western Australia and two Victoria teams, Metro (Melbourne Metropolitan Area) and Country to contest the division 1 tournament.
History
Originally known as the Teal Cup, it began in 1953 as a junior representative competition between the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales. The Australian Capital Territory was the first other side to enter in 1973. With the addition of teams from each Australian state and mainland territory in 1976 was rebranded as the "National Championships" and split into two divisions with the strongest states including Victoria (later split into two sides: Vic Metro and Vic Country) comprising Division 1. Papua New Guinea was the first other country to field a team in 1979. The division 2 competition was replaced by the Under-19 Academy Series in 2017, with teams from the 4 Queensland and NSW AFL clubs' academies in addition to Northern Territory and Tasmania state teams. The entire competition was changed to under-19s in 2021 (the competition has previously operated under-17s and under-18s competitions).
With the AFL Commission phasing out representative football at senior level since 1994, the National Championships are one of the few opportunities to play for their state or territory. Players typically share the senior team's guernsey (with the exception of Victorian teams which play in variations of the state team guernsey, Vic Metro has a light blue Big V insignia and Vic Country plays in a reverse white with navy Big V).
The best players from the academy competition then combine to form an 'Allies' team in conjunction with South Australia, Western Australia and two Victoria teams, Metro (Melbourne Metropolitan Area) and Country to contest the division 1 tournament.
The winner of the 2019 division 1 tournament was Western Australia.
Winners and awards
Individual awards
The Larke Medal is awarded to the best player in Division 1 of the competition. It is named in honour of a junior footballer, Michael Larke, who was killed in a bus crash while attending a trial match for New South Wales. The Hunter Harrison Medal is awarded to the best player in Division 2 and is named in honour of a former president and life member of the Northern Territory Football League, Hunter Harrison, who played a major role in the development of the AFL Youth Championships.[1] Each tournament, an underage All-Australian team is named; an MVP is also named for each team.
Past winners
| Year | Division 1 Premiers | Larke Medal | Division 2 Premiers | Hunter Harrison Medal | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 |  Queensland | ||||
| 1963 | Queensland | ||||
| 1969 | Brisbane, Queensland | ||||
| 1971 | Queensland | ||||
| 1972 | Queensland | ||||
| 1973 | Queensland | Sydney, New South Wales | |||
| 1974 |  New South Wales | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory | |||
| 1975 | New South Wales | Brisbane, Queensland | |||
| 1976 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Victoria | Mick Woods (Vic) | Wagga Wagga, New South Wales | ||
| 1977 | Victoria | Rodney Watts (Vic) | Melbourne, Victoria | ||
| 1978 |  South Australia | Mark Weideman (SA) | Brisbane, Queensland | ||
| 1979 | South Australia | Grant Campbell (WA) | Hobart, Tasmania | ||
| 1980 | South Australia | Darryl Murphy (ACT) | Perth, Western Australia | ||
| 1981 | Victoria | Paul Salmon (Vic) | Melbourne, Victoria | ||
| 1982 | Victoria | Michael Phyland (NSW) | Brisbane, Queensland | ||
| 1983 | Victoria | Greg Anderson (SA) | Darwin, Northern Territory | ||
| 1984 | Victoria | David Condon (NSW) | Sydney, New South Wales | ||
| 1985 |  Western Australia | Jason Kerr (NSW) | Perth, Western Australia | ||
| 1986 | Victoria | Stephen Lawrence (Qld) | Adelaide, South Australia | ||
| 1987 | Victoria | Steven Kolyniuk (Vic) | Hobart, Tasmania | ||
| 1988 | Victoria | Robbie Wright (NSW) | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory | ||
| 1989 | Vic Country | Ray Windsor (Qld) | Melbourne, Victoria | ||
| 1990 | Vic Metro | Paul Williams (Tas) | Brisbane, Queensland | ||
| 1991 | South Australia | Robert Neill (ACT) | Darwin, Northern Territory | ||
| 1992 | Vic Metro | Daniel Southern (WA) | Vic Country | Michael Voss (Qld) | Melbourne, Victoria |
| 1993 | Vic Metro | Shaun McManus (WA) | New South Wales | Mark Ryan (NT) | Adelaide, South Australia |
| 1994 | Vic Metro | Daniel Harford (Vic Metro) | Vic Country | Michael Martin (Tas) | |
| 1995 | South Australia | Luke Godden (Vic Metro) Ben Setchell (Vic Country) | Western Australia | Steven Koops (NT) | |
| 1996 | Vic Metro | Pat Steinfort (Vic Metro) |  Tasmania | Matthew Bernes (Tas) | |
| 1997 | Vic Metro | Tim Finocchiaro (Vic Metro) | Queensland | Fred Campbell (NT) | |
| 1998 | Vic Metro | Garth Taylor (WA) | / NSW/ACT | Shane Young (Qld) Derek Murray (NSW/ACT) | |
| 1999 | Western Australia | Paul Hasleby (WA) | Queensland | Brad Green (Tas) | |
| 2000 | Vic Country | Kayne Pettifer (Vic Country) | / NSW/ACT | Ian Callinan (Tas) | |
| 2001 | Vic Metro | Sam Power (Vic Metro) Steven Armstrong (WA) | Tasmania | Tom Davidson (Tas) | Melbourne, Victoria |
| 2002 | Vic Metro | Byron Schammer (SA) | / NSW/ACT | Anthony Corrie (NT) | Melbourne, Victoria |
| 2003 | Vic Country | Kepler Bradley (WA) | / NSW/ACT | Jake Furfaro (Qld) | Melbourne, Victoria |
| 2004 | Vic Metro | Jesse Smith (Vic Metro) |  Northern Territory | Richard Tambling (NT) | Melbourne, Victoria |
| 2005 | Vic Metro | Marc Murphy (Vic Metro) | Tasmania | Grant Birchall (Tas) | Melbourne, Victoria |
| 2006 | Vic Metro | Tom Hawkins (Vic Metro) | Queensland | Ricky Petterd (Qld) | Melbourne, Victoria |
| 2007 | Western Australia | Cale Morton (WA) | / NSW/ACT | Craig Bird (NSW/ACT) | VIC, WA, SA, NSW |
| 2008 | Vic Metro | Jack Watts (Vic Metro) | Tasmania | Mitch Robinson (Tas) | VIC, WA, SA, TAS |
| 2009 | Western Australia | David Swallow (WA) Andrew Hooper (Vic Country) | / NSW/ACT | Dylan McNeil (NSW/ACT) | National (excluding ACT) |
| 2010 | Vic Country | Harley Bennell (WA) | Tasmania | Sam Darley (Tas) | National (excluding ACT) |
| 2011 | Vic Metro | Stephen Coniglio (WA) | Tasmania | John McKenzie (Tas) | National (excluding ACT) |
| 2012 | Vic Metro | Lachie Whitfield (Vic Country) | Northern Territory | Jake Neade (NT) | National (excluding ACT) |
| 2013 | South Australia | Dom Sheed (WA) | Tasmania | Liam Dawson (Qld) Kade Kolodjashnij (Tas) Toby Nankervis (Tas) | National (excluding ACT) |
| 2014 | South Australia | Christian Petracca (Vic Metro) | / NSW/ACT | Isaac Heeney (NSW/ACT) | VIC, WA, SA, NSW |
| 2015 | Vic Country | Josh Schache (Vic Country) | Queensland | Ben Keays (Qld) | VIC, WA, SA, QLD |
| 2016 | Vic Metro | Jack Graham (South Australia) | / NSW/ACT | Jack Bowes (Qld) | National (excluding ACT) |
| 2017 | Vic Metro | Oscar Allen (Western Australia) | (Replaced by AFL Club Academy Series) | Nick Blakey (Sydney) | VIC, WA, SA, NSW |
| 2018 | South Australia | Sam Walsh (Vic Country) | Tasmania | Tarryn Thomas (Tasmania) | VIC, SA, QLD |
| 2019 | Western Australia | Deven Robertson (WA) | (Replaced by AFL Club Academy Series) | Connor Budarick (Qld) | VIC, NSW, SA |
| 2020 (Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic)[2] | |||||
| 2021 (Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic)[3] | |||||
| 2022 | Vic Metro | Will Ashcroft (Vic Metro) | N/A | Jaspa Fletcher (Qld) | All states (excluding Tasmania) |
Participating teams
Division 1
.svg.png.webp)
Allies (Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory, Queensland, Tasmania) (2016-)- Victoria Country (Victoria) & Victoria Metro (Victoria)
- South Australia (South Australia)
- Western Australia (Western Australia)
Division 2
(Note: Since 2017, the AFL has replaced state and territory representative teams with an Academy division consisting of its QLD and NSW AFL Club sides: GWS Giants, Brisbane Lions, Gold Coast Suns and Sydney Swans)
- / New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory (New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory)
- Queensland (Queensland)
- Northern Territory (Northern Territory)
- Tasmania (Tasmania)
Past
- Australian Capital Territory (1973-199?)[4][5] (later combined within NSW/ACT)
Papua New Guinea (1979)- Victoria (1976-198?) (Split into two sides: Vic Metro & Vic Country)
Sponsors
The tournament is currently sponsored by the National Australia Bank, having previously been sponsored by Caltex and the Commonwealth Bank.[6]
See also
Notes
- Barfoot, Michael (December 1995). History of NTFL. p. 107.
- Simply Energy WA U18s squad announced West Australian Football Commission 18 September 2020
- UPDATE: Second WA v SA U19 clash looms, Vic season cancelled By Callum Twomey 3 September 2021
- "Last chance for bottom teams". The Canberra Times. Vol. 47, no. 13,456. 8 June 1973. p. 19. Retrieved 21 December 2021 – via Trove.
- "Qld seeks junior rules game". The Canberra Times. Vol. 44, no. 12,494. 16 December 1969. p. 23. Retrieved 21 December 2021 – via Trove.
- Taylor, Kevin. The Story of the Teal Cup and AFL National Under 18 Championships – Full Points Footy. Retrieved 4 July 2013, from the Pandora Archive.
References
- Lovett, Michael, ed. (2005). AFL Record Guide to Season 2005. p. 764. ISBN 0-9580300-6-5.