The Inverell Saints are proving the future is bright and they'll be a force for years to come after some strong performances at the AFL Northern Carnival in Coffs Harbour last week.
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The two-day carnival from July 9 to 10 brought five teams from across the state together, including the North West, North Coast, Illawarra, Hunter and Central Coast.
The Saints made up almost half of the North West juniors that travelled with a massive 43 players selected across the four teams including youth girls, under-13s, under -15s and under-17s.
Not only were the Saints well represented at the carnival, but two players were selected for the special honour of being named captain of their respective sides.
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Jared Martin was named captain of the under-15s team while Kayla Sims was chosen to lead the youth girls side.
Away from the field, the majority of coaches were also from Inverell.
Georgia Strang (youth girls), Beau Coles and Gerry Taveira (under-13s) and Matt Harrison (under-17s) were all selected to coach their respective teams.
While results didn't always go North West's way, they still put in strong showings against quality opposition.
AFL North West president and Inverell Saints under-17s team manager Sonia Martin was nevertheless proud of all players.
"I think our kids did really well," Martin said.
"They all did better than last year.
"Their sportsmanship and willingness to have a go even when it was tough was commendable."
In a particular highlight of the carnival, however, was the youth girls side who won three out of their five games to finish third.
Once all was said and done, the accolades continued for the Saints representatives, with two Inverell players being named their team's best and fairest.
Kyla Hamilton won the award for the youth girls while Rhyley Thom was named the under-17s' best.
"He's only in his second year of AFL so that's pretty cool," Martin said.
"Those kids that have done really well in a leadership role or skills and proficiency role, they were the particular standouts."
In another highlight of the carnival, under-15s captain Jared Martin was also selected to umpire two games.
"That's a really big deal," Martin said.
"With the umpire development we're doing, kids aren't just learning to play but learning how to umpire.
"That was really special to see."
Martin said it shows the strength of the Inverell Saints club with a large number of representatives and strong performances, but praised all the players' efforts across the two days.
"The majority of kids were Inverell kids and the teams did amazing," she said.
"As the league president I spoke to them the night before about what I expected and they all did that.
"I wanted them to play in a way that would make other people want to play the game and they did that.
"But it really sets us up to be a force not just now but for years to come."