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28/03/2011
By ALISTAIR KENNEDY
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Despite the disappointment of missing out on hosting the 2022 World Cup, football in Australia continues to increase in popularity and two of the country’s leading car companies are at the forefront of the promotion of the world’s most popular sport.
In addition to its worldwide support of the game, Hyundai has been the naming sponsor of Australia’s premier domestic competition, the A-League, since it kicked off in 2005.
While crowd numbers were generally disappointing in the just completed 2010/11 A-League season, a capacity crowd of over 50,000 packed Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium to watch Brisbane Roar and the Central Coast Mariners play out an epic grand final.
Most importantly, the sixth season of the A-League brought to the game a significant jump in quality, to such an extent that several of the late season matches between the Roar and the Mariners were of a standard that wouldn’t have been out of the place in the major European leagues.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the Hyundai A-League has been the emergence of a string of talented young players, many still in their teens, who will form the nucleus of future Socceroo teams. It’s a fact of life with Australian football that most, if not all, of these youngsters will ply their trade in overseas leagues but the continuing ongoing success of the local national competition will have played a major role in their development.
Another carmaker to make a commitment to ‘the beautiful game’, and to the development of youth talent, is Volkswagen. For the first time, Australia will be represented at next year’s Volkswagen World Junior Masters football tournament in Poland.
The tournament, which was first played in Germany in 1999 is one of the largest youth football competitions in the world. It is contested by players from the Under 12 age group with more than 850 teams from over 20 countries competing in individual national competitions to determine which club team will represent their home nation.
Volkswagen is looking for teams that not only demonstrate great football skills, but also possess good sportsmanship, team spirit and are actively involved in the community to compete in the Volkswagen Masters National tournament in Sydney in October 2011.
From the online registrations, 50 teams will be selected to progress to the second stage, based upon their entry. These teams will be asked to submit a short video displaying some key training skills, game situations and a few words from the team’s captain.
From these entries, 200 teams will be chosen to attend the Australian Volkswagen Junior Masters in Sydney on the first weekend of October 2011. The winning team will receive an all expenses paid trip for the team (16 players) and two accompanying adults to the finals in Poland in May 2012.
Teams can register online at www.juniormastersaustralia.com.au. Entries close on 21 April 2011 at 5pm EST.
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