Queensland state representative sides dominated against teams from across the country in recent weeks, with the impressive talent of FQ Academy young players on full display at the National Youth Championships (NYC) and the National Training Centre (NTC) Challenge.
The introduction of the FQ Academy this year as the nationally recognised talent pathway for young footballers across Queensland has seen the state record one of its most successful years ever on the national stage.
After a hiatus due to COVID-19, both the National Youth Championships and NTC Challenge returned in 2022 and provided a valuable opportunity for Queensland players to vie for selection in future national teams while coming up against the best young footballers from across the country.
Queensland’s boys and girls squads for the NYC tournaments in Coffs Harbour featured FQ Academy players from across the entire state, including the five regional FQ Academy regional centres in Wide Bay, Central Coast, Whitsunday Coast, Northern and Far North & Gulf and from the Brisbane Roar Boys Academy and the FQ Academy QAS program.
The FQ Academy regional and state carnivals played a crucial role in the talent identification and selection process for the state team squads as players were provided an opportunity to showcase their skills in front of Football Queensland and Football Australia technical staff over several carnivals and months of training.
“We’ve set out to take a deliberate ‘One Queensland’ approach with forming our state teams. There was no Metro or Country siloed player allocations, but a genuine mixing of talent, so our teams reflected a blended approach of the best talent from our FQ Academy centres from across the state and metro areas, as well as the Brisbane Roar Academy,” FQ Lead Club Development Ambassador and Queensland NYC Technical Director Tom Laxton said.
“We’ve had real concentration and focus on process around game play, style and strategy, organisation, roles and responsibilities. We’re really focused on process and principles rather than patterns.”
The ‘One Queensland’ approach proved hugely successful as the Under 16 Queensland Maroon Girls team were crowned Champions with a 1-0 win over Victoria Blue and the Under 14 Queensland White Boys side securing a thrilling penalty shootout victory over Western Australia to bring the Championship trophy home to the Sunshine State.
Another two Queensland squads made it all the way to the NYC Final with the Under 14 Queensland Maroon Girls and Under 15 Queensland White Boys sides recording fantastic results throughout the course of the tournament.
Between them, the three Queensland girls teams and six boys teams secured an impressive 29 wins and 10 draws from 58 matches played at the NYC events.
Over 20 highly experienced FQ Academy coaches from across the statewide program accompanied the Queensland squads as they travelled south to represent the state, with the on-field results demonstrating the positive contribution of staff leading the sides.
This year wasn’t the first time Queensland had secured victory at the national tournament, with Queensland’s Under 14 Girls side crowned Champions at the last NYC in 2019 with a squad that included recent CommBank Junior Matildas debutants Charlie Gibson and Ella O’Grady, two FQ Academy QAS players who have progressed to national team selection via Football Queensland’s talented player pathway.
Gibson and O’Grady were once again representing the state on the national stage just last week as they competed at the NTC Challenge at the Australian Institute of Sport alongside Under 18 players from across the FQ Academy QAS program and from NPL Women’s clubs.
In an incredible result for Queensland, the team won all six of their matches during the week, conceding just one goal throughout the tournament and establishing themselves as the benchmark side while reinforcing Queensland’s dominance in representative football and demonstrating the pathway from the FQ Academy to state and national squads.