Some of Queensland's most talented youngsters clashed in Rockhampton for the Inaugural Queensland Junior State Championships on the weekend of 25 - 26 August 2007.
Five of the six Queensland Regions were represented at the event, with North Queensland the only area not to send any teams.
About 250 boys and girls competed in under-14s and 16s, while more than 500 spectators, parents and officials cheered them on.
Home-team Central Queensland Bulls took out the inaugural title with impressive performances in all four categories, including the showcase 16s Years age-group.
Cental Queensland's victory was impressive considering its selection tournament was postponed due to bad weather.
Greta Perkins, coach of the successful Central Queensland Under-16 Girls side, said the team only had one training session before the Championships.
"I was really impressed with how the girls got together and worked on things between games themselves. I knew that we had a lot of talent in that age-group but I just didn't think they would be able to mesh well together because when we went into our first game a lot of them didn't even know each other's names. I knew that they'd go alright but I just thought that lack of team bonding might let us down in the end. They're a really friendly group of girls and got to know each other fairly quickly which was good," Perkins said.
Central Queensland's victory displays that there is a lot of Touch Football talent coming out of the area.
Perkins said the juniors also enjoyed the home-ground advantage.
"The kids get pretty excited and work pretty hard because we're used to travelling away with them having to spend so much money to go to things. Now that something was at home or close to home they put a lot more hard work in with training and didn't have the pull outs that you normally get through costs and things like that."
Rockhampton Junior Touch Association's Ron Etherden coordinated the Championships.
Etherden said the event was a success, although he would like to see it receive more technical support in the future in a similar way to some of Queensland's more established tournaments.
"All the kids really enjoyed it. There were some close games and some not-so-close games. The finals were tight and it all went over quite well," he said.
Etherden said the Championships, which are set to become one of the Queensland Touch Association's premium annual events, would lift the level of junior elite competition in the Sunshine State.
He said the difference between the regional-based Junior State Championships and the affiliate-based Junior State Cup was noticeable.
"I've been to 12 Junior State Cups. It's a single-team event against a regional event, but the difference between the Junior State Cup and the Junior State Championships was the maturity of some of the players. Even [Queensland Touch Association Game Development Office] Greg Jones and I remarked that a few years ago you would never see that standard of Touch being played in those age groups."
The Rockhampton Touch veteran said the improvement was due to more affiliates playing junior Touch and an improvement in the coaching techniques employed by Touch centres.
"The elite player is now getting more involved at junior levels so the kids themselves are learning more. The difference in the end was the composure of some of the kids. The composure was better in the teams that won. They weren't rushing things and they were more mature in their attitude," Etherden said.
In future years Queensland merit representative teams will be selected from the Championships.
The inaugural event last weekend saw all the individual regions conducting talent identification on their own players with the possibility that some of the under-16 representatives will take part in the National Under-18 Championships in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, next month.
You can be sure that all the eligible players from around the state will have their sights firmly set on returning for the second annual Queensland Junior State Championships next year to wrestle the title away from 2007 champions Central Queensland.
RESULTS:
Boys 14's
South Queensland (4) def Central Queensland (2)
Player of the Final
Adam Pryde (South Queensland)
Girls 14's
Sunshine Coast (4) def South Queensland (3)
Player of the Final
Emma Blanch (Sunshine Coast)
Boys 16's
Central Queensland (7) def South Queensland (5)
Player of the Final
Josh Gregson (Central Queensland)
Girls 16's
Central Queensland (5) def South West (3)
Player of the Final
Caitlin Nash (Central Queensland)
Boys Player of the Series
Jared Ghosn (South Queensland 16 Boys)
Girls Player of the Series
Addison McKenzie (Central Queensland 14 Girls)
FINAL STANDINGS - REGIONS
1st Central Queensland 28 points
2nd South Queensland 25 points
3rd Sunshine Coast 19 points
4th South West Queensland 13 points
5th Brisbane City 7 points
