The First ever Moreland Schools Cup took place on Friday the 27th of July at Piranha Park, with three schools taking part in the historic occasion. Coburg Lions were excited to host St Bernards Primary School, Brunswick North Primary School and Glenroy Central Primary School to create a festival of football for both the boys and girls of Moreland.
Invitations were sent to all Primary Schools in the Moreland region, and we were excited to have the 3 schools accept, with 3 boys and 3 girls teams present amongst the schools. This allowed for an exciting round-robin event, and a grand final for both competitions to end the day. Coburg SEDA students, placement students from La Trobe University and AFL Victoria Game Development officers assisted with the days’ operations.
The modified grounds saw the teams play round robin matches with two 12-minute halves. The boys competition saw teams of 14 take to the field, while in the girls competition it was teams of 10. These initial matches saw some incredibly close finishes, outstanding skills, and fantastic sportsmanship from all teams. The girls’ games were a particular standout, with a number of new players to the game of AFL who weren’t afraid to tackle and bump their way to the ball, and a lot of smiles on the faces of all players.
In the boys’ competition, Brunswick North and Glenroy Central set the tone in the group stages, both displaying great acts of teamwork to each defeat St Bernards, while also playing out a very tight round-robin match between the two sides. This competitive rivalry was renewed in the grand final, where Glenroy Central came out on top. It was a hard-fought occasion, with the game being halted for several minutes while a few Brunswick North players could receive treatment for a head clash. Both sides played out the game though, and the Glenroy Central team in Blue took out the title with Moreland Council Mayor John Kavanagh watching on.
The girl’s competition also saw two standout teams, with St Bernard’s and Brunswick North 2 both coming through the round-robin stage with impressive victories over Brunswick North 1. The teams also played out a thrilling game, with a goal right on the siren being the difference. As expected, the grand final started out with the same intensity, and the girls put on a wonderful clinic of AFL. It was goal for goal coming into the last minute, and spurred on by the loud cheering of the St Bernard’s boys, the Snow Dogs were able to come out on top.
Moreland Council Mayor John Kavanagh presented each team’s captains with the winning trophies and each participant received a Coburg FC pack thanks to our sponsors Piranha, which included a packet of their range of healthy snack foods.
It was a fantastic day enjoyed by all, and Coburg FC are already looking forward to putting the competition on next year for all schools in Moreland.
