By ADEM SARICAOGLU
THE St Albans Spurs will be sending three of their finest young footballers to Shepparton this week for the AFL Youth Girls National Championships.
Madeline Keryk, Maddy Lister and Brittany Bonnici were all selected in the inaugural Vic Metro squad, which was cut down to 27 players last month.
Lister, still just 13 years old, admits she feels a bit nervy about facing girls up to five years older than her in the week-long competition.
“I was pretty nervous training with all the bigger girls,” she said.
“Especially when I’m one of the youngest in the team and they’re all 18 and got their P-plates and stuff like that.
“So I’m definitely nervous.”
Bonnici, 16, will go into the competition with a bit more experience behind her, and says she still has to pinch herself about being rated among one the best in the state.
“I still can’t describe it,” Bonnici said.
“I’ve been in the (all-Victorian) squad before, but when you find out that you’re in it and that you’re representing your team, there’s just no words for it. The feeling’s ecstatic.”
Their St Albans coach Joanne Constantino believes Bonnici is “one of the best young footballers in the country”.
“She’s got one of the best tanks going around, she can just run and run and run,” Constantino explained.
“Her skills are absolutely perfect, and she very rarely misses on either foot, so she’s pretty impressive for a 16-year-old.”
Constantino also made note of Lister’s hard running and “gutsy efforts”, and warned she could surprise a lot of her older opponents in Shepparton.
“Maddy Lister, the youngest one in our team, is an absolute bullet,” Constantino said.
“So watch out for her on the footy field, even against the under-18s that’ll be in there.“
Against the 18-year-olds, she’ll definitely show them up.”
While Lister is confident she’ll manage just fine and is simply hoping to take some experience out of the week, Bonnici knows the competition won’t be easy against strong outfits from Vic Country, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and NSW/ACT.
“I think it’ll be a tough competition now that we’re split into Vic Country and Vic Metro,” she said.
“But hopefully we get a few wins on the board and can bring home the national championship.”
Altona’s Stephanie Webb is also in the squad and will wear the big V this week.
