National & Regional Youth Ultimate

Regional and National Youth Ultimate descended on Taupo this past weekend.  Below is some words from the selectors / coaches / mentors of NZ Youth ultimate players….

Auckland Under 19 Boys

The Auckland U19 boys squad recently travelled to Taupo to play against their Wellington counterparts.  The best of three series was the first U19 tournament ever held in New Zealand, and also doubled as a selection camp for the New Zealand U19 team.  The standard of play was much higher than expected, particularly from Wellington who clinched the series by winning the first two games.  However, Auckland rallied in
the third game and led from start to finish in an excellent display of skill and strategy.

New Zealand Under 19 Girls

With the New Zealand Under 19 team already selected, the squad assembled for a
training camp in Taupo alongside the boys’ tournament.  Fourteen girls from Auckland are included in the team, picked from the Auckalnd Secondary Schools League and trial events held during the summer.  The camp was a great opportunity for the Aucklanders to meet their teammates from elsewhere around the country.  The team bonded well and the improvement of all players over the three sessions was noticeable.

Both the NZ U19 Boys and Girls team have one further camp scheduled before taking on Australia in a three match test series in early October.  Many of these young players are well on their way to becoming elite players which bodes well for the health of our sport
going forward.

If you have an opportunity to contribute to the youth programme in any way (whether through financial support, or helping out with uniforms or videoing, please do so), these players are the future of our sport and the talent pool is enormous and largely untapped.
Sarah Rice, the NZU Youth High Performance Manager can be contacted on nzyouthultimate@gmail.com