2023 AFL Sydney Juniors Presentation Night
It was an exciting time for AFL Sydney Juniors on Monday night with the very first Sydney wide AFL Sydney Juniors Presentation Night. The Liverpool Catholic Club was jam packed with excited clubs, players, families and umpires on Monday night with 600 people in attendance from clubs all over Sydney. Excitement levels were high as everyone waited to see who would be crowned the Best and Fairest for all age groups from Under 13 to Under 18 Youth Girls.
The night recognised the Best and Fairest award winners as well as the efforts of all of the wonderful umpires, clubs, coaches and volunteers who all put in so much work and excelled throughout the 2023 junior AFL season.
Special guests in attendance included Head of AFL NSW/ACT, Tiffany Robertson, Community Football Manager NSW/ACT, John Boulous, and Coaching and Development Education Lead NSW/ACT, Sydney Swans legend, Ryan O’Keefe. Kieren Jack was unable to attend but he created a special video to announce the winner of the Under 17 Division 1 Kieren Jack Medal.
The evening commenced with host Nathan Strempel welcoming everyone to the newly renovated ballroom at the Liverpool Catholic Club. After some fantastic words from Tiffany Robertson, the evening kicked into gear with the first age group of winners being announced.
In all, 109 awards were given out to the top three players from all of the age groups, volunteers, coaches, Auskick Coordinators and umpires as AFL Sydney Juniors celebrated the season that was 2023.
The evening was capped off with the announcements of Zali Currie as the Under 18 Youth Girls Division 1 Best and Fairest (her second award in a row after winning the Under 18 Youth Girls Division 2 Best & Fairest in 2022), Kohan Prenter winning the Kieren Jack medal for the Under 17 Division 1 Best and Fairest and the Maroubra Saints formally announced as the 2023 Club of the Year.
Thank you to everyone who came along to the awards night and made it such a wonderful evening. Good luck to all those playing in this weekend’s grand finals.
Please see the list of winners below. Congratulations and see you next year!
Under 13 Division 3 White
Third Place – Tom Baverstock (Parramatta Goannas)
Runner Up – Jasper Carruthers (Baulkham Hills Hawks)
First Place – Issac Vince from Mountain Lions/Hawkesbury Saints
Under 13 Division 3 Blue
Equal Third Place – Jack Kourtsis (Glebe Greyhounds) & Anders Stoller – Willoughby/Mosman Wildcats
Runner Up – Miles White (Manly Bombers)
First Place – Austin Lau (East Sydney Bulldogs)
Under 13 Division 2
Equal Third Place – Jack Rovere (Pittwater Tigers) & Carson Blacksmith (Heathcote/Bangor)
Equal Runner Up – Nicholas Giourgis (Ramsgate Rams) & Senan Frearson (Miranda Bombers)
First Place – Lewis Pengue from Camden Cats.
Under 13 Division 1
Third Place – Riley Steadman (Cronulla Sharks)
Runner Up – Rafael Micheletti (Willoughby/Mosman Wildcats)
First Place – Mac Seebeck (Canada Bay Cannons)
Umpire Awards
Most Improved Umpire – Marley Cowling (South Umpire Group)
Most Dedicated Umpire – Mannix Flower (Northern Beaches Umpire Group)
Golden Whistle Award – Ari Wilson (City East Umpire Group)
Rob Phillis Memorial Award – Theresa Short (Umpire Welfare Officer)
Under 14 Division 3 Blue
Equal Third Place – Mitchell Andrew (Forest Lions) & Domenic Laird (Baulkham Hills Hawks)
Runner Up – James Cullen (Pennant Hills/Westbrook)
First Place – Noah Golds (Parramatta Goannas)
Under 14 Division 3 Red
Third Place – Tobias Golding-Szyma (Western Suburbs Magpies)
Runner Up – Flynn Simpson (Newtown Swans)
First Place – Jagger Swartz (East Sydney Bulldogs)
Under 14 Division 2
Equal Third Place – Thomas Jolly (Manly Bombers) & Dashiel Delaney-Fielding (Cronulla Sharks)
Runner Up – Liam Breaden (Miranda Bombers)
First Place – Marcus Hammoud (Miranda Bombers)
Under 14 Division 1
Third Place – Hamish Gilligan (Willoughby/Mosman Wildcats)
Runner Up – Sebastian Mok (Glebe Greyhounds)
First Place – Henry Lamond (Canada Bay Cannons)
Auskick Coordinator of the Year
Sydney Harbour Region – Sarah Smith (Miranda Bombers)
Western Sydney Region – Kirrilly Boyd (Blue Mountains Kangaroos)
Under 14 Youth Girls Division 3
Third Place – Josie Semple (Newtown Swans)
Runner Up – Eden Davis (Western Suburbs Magpies)
First Place – Christina Jarina (Canada Bay Cannons)
Under 14 Youth Girls Division 2 Red
Equal Third Place – Amelie O’Neill (Ramsgate Rams) & Evie Scotts (Maroubra Saints)
Runner Up – Abigail Perse (South West Sydney)
First Place – Shiloh Macfarlane-Anning (Miranda Bombers)
Under 14 Youth Girls Division 2 Blue
Third Place – Ruby Kernaghan (Baulkham Hills Hawks)
Runner Up – Amber Reveley (Baulkham Hills Hawks)
First Place – Genevieve Hynes (Lane Cove Cats)
Under 14 Youth Girls Division 1
Third Place – Olive Smart (East Sydney Bulldogs)
Equal Runner Up – Claire Bridge (North West Lightning) & Tylee Metera-Potts (Camden Cats)
Equal First Place – Evana Butler (North West Lightning) & Lolita Savala (Maroubra Saints)
Under 15 Division 3 Red
Equal Third Place – Lachlan Mohapp (Heathcote/Bangor/Miranda) & Mikias Williams (Glebe Greyhounds)
Runner Up – Koby Scharenguivel (North Ryde/Lane Cove)
Equal First Place – Jeremy Travers (North Ryde/Lane Cove) & Leo Sharp (Glebe Greyhounds)
Under 15 Division 3 Blue
Third Place – Riley Love (Pittwater Tigers)
Runner Up – Alexander McBurney (Penrith/Hawkesbury)
First Place – Darcy Korff (Manly Bombers)
Under 15 Division 2
Equal Third Place – Jakob Frankl (Moore Park Tigers) & Flynn Eagles (Camden Cats)
Runner Up – Rishabh Arcot (South West Sydney)
First Place – Ethan Matthews (South West Sydney)
Under 15 Division 1
Third Place – Noah Dinsmore (Pennant Hills/Westbrook)
Runner Up – Lachlan Price (Balgowlah Suns)
Equal First Place – Taj Nicol (Maroubra Saints) & Nathanael Newman (Manly Bombers)
AFL Sydney Juniors Western Sydney Junior Coach of the Year
Justin Diamond (Kellyville/Rouse Hill Magpies)
AFL Sydney Juniors Sydney Harbour Junior Coach of the Year
Stephen Benjamin (Maroubra Saints)
Kevin Sheedy Medal for the AFL Sydney Juniors Youth Coach of the Year
Stuart Ryan (South West Sydney)
Under 16 Youth Girls Division 3
Equal Third Place – Caitlin Gurney (North West Lightning) & Sena Hippmann (Maroubra Saints)
Equal Runner Up – Ava McDonnell-Zammit (Maroubra Saints) & India Emmott Bennet (Manly Bombers)
First Place – Chloe Bosnjak from (Manly Bombers)
Under 16 Youth Girls Division 2 Red
Equal Third Place – Jessica Robertson (South West Sydney) & Ella Van Den Borne (Miranda Bombers)
Runner Up – Paige Bauer (Ramsgate Rams)
First Place – Grace Parsons (Miranda Bombers)
Under 16 Youth Girls Division 2 Blue
Third Place – Eliza Mcleod (Lane Cove Cats)
Runner Up – Darcie Prosser-Shaw (Baulkham Hills Hawks)
First place – Elizabeth Yates (Lane Cove Cats)
Under 16 Youth Girls Division 1
Third Place – Frances Walsh (Glebe Greyhounds)
Runner Up – Kiera Yerbury (St Ives Saints)
First Place – Seren White (St Ives Saints)
Young Leader of the Year
Daniel Riley (Wollondilly Redbacks)
Western Sydney Volunteer of the Year
Lauren Pollard (Penrith Giants)
Sydney Harbour Trev Byrne Volunteer of the Year
Deigo Eguigeren (Cronulla Sharks)
Under 17 Division 3 Red
Equal Runner Up – Dominic Yarwood (Western Suburbs/Newtown) & Luca West (East Sydney Bulldogs)
Equal First Place – Mark Mifsud (Parramatta Goannas) & Hunter Bassett (Heathcote/Bangor/Miranda)
Under 17 Division 3 Blue
Equal Third Place – Liam Howells (Forest Lions) & Hamish Rogers (Balgowlah Suns)
Runner Up – Mitchell Hatfield (Forest Lions)
First Place – Matthew Athans (Balgowlah Suns)
Under 17 Division 2
Third Place – Flynn Williams (Camden Cats)
Runner Up – Jack Druery (Heathcote/Bangor/Miranda)
First Place – Dylan Jones (Mountain Lions)
Under 17 Division 1
Third Place – Louis Jans (Manly Bombers)
Equal Runner Up – Coby Hilton (South West Sydney) & Rory Davey (East Sydney Bulldogs)
First Place – Kohan Prenter (South West Sydney)
Under 18 Youth Girls Division 2
Third Place – Zara Stanford (Penrith Giants)
Runner Up – Lauren Bull (Forest Lions)
First Place – Kate Salmon (Forest Lions)
Under 18 Youth Girls Division 1
Third Place – Emma Juneja (East Sydney Bulldogs)
Runner Up – Ruby Reid (Maroubra Saints)
First Place – Zali Curie (Balgowlah/Manly)
Club of the Year
Maroubra Saints