About 28 players from the North Coast and North West regions have been named in the offseason Aussie Rules program.

Both played for the combined Glen Innes Celts and Inverell Saints team, the Celtic Saints, this season.

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Diesel was named best player for his team in the under-17 grand final.

He is the only player in the colts squad from the North West with most of the team coming from Coffs Harbour and Sawtell.

He was also part of the under-15 Northern Heat program last year.

His parents Aaron and Robyn have been instrumental in the growth of the junior game in the New England region.

They moved to Glen Innes in 2016 and formed the Celts club after introducing an after school Auskick program for kids.

Shaun has also come through the system and has been named in the Heat's Future Squad for young players.

He is the only player from the North West competition selected.

The players have committed to a gruelling series of training sessions between October and March where the focus is on individual development of skills, fitness, and technical work.

They will also be given individual running and strength and conditioning programs to complete over the Christmas and New Year period.

"We've had a great response to the program from players in both the North West and North Coast since it commenced in 2018," community football manager Paul Taylor said.

"Our focus is on preparing players to take the next step within footy, whether that be stepping up an age group, moving into open age footy, or progressing to higher level honours, and we're already seeing our past players making a significant mark on local footy and further afield."

The Colts squad (players born 2005 and 2006) and Futures (players born 2007 and 2008) will conclude with both groups playing a pre-season match on the Gold Coast.

Additional players will be added to the program, with a number of individuals unable to attend the selection trial due to prior commitments, injury, or illness, who will trial at the first training session.

The program has previously included video analysis, strength and conditioning training, and match play against the age group teams of the Southport Sharks club that competes in the VFL.

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