86 of Auckland’s most talented youth are Wellington bound next Wednesday for the 2017 National Age Group Tournament.

Five Auckland sides, made up of players from the AFF Federation Talent Centre Programme, will compete against the six other regional federations in New Zealand in the 2002 Boys and 2001 and 2003 Boys and Girls age groups.

Each side will play six matches from Wednesday through to Sunday and AFF Talent lead Ben Bate is delighted with how the pre-tournament build up has panned out.

“The tournament prep has gone well with some of our teams having the chance to play in an Upper North Inter Federation friendly series.

“There were some good results against both Northern and Waikato but what has been more pleasing is the performances in all of those games – they have been in line with the AFF playing philosophy.”

Bate says he hopes the five-day tournament will provide the region’s top talent with different opportunities.

“The tournament is about providing a chance for AFF players to be identified by New Zealand Football to take their next steps in their football journey but also to continue to provide a development opportunity for our players.”

AFF’s tournament kicks off with each team taking on Football South on Wednesday afternoon.

You can follow the progress of the teams via New Zealand Football’s schedule of Live Streaming (details to follow) along with daily updates on www.aff.org.nz and via AFF’s social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Squads

U-14 Girls

Hannah Grimsley, Kate Duncan, Madeleine McCormick, Petra Buyck, Rosa Caird, Ruby Rimmer, Georgia Burrows (Ellerslie), Katelyn Gray, Nadine Robberts (Fencibles United), Maya Allsop, Alisha Braun (Central United), Emeline Bloomfield, Emma Pijnenburg, Kitty Jacob (Western Springs), Charlotte Gordon, Ella Russ(Eastern Suburbs), Elise Whichman-Walker (Bucklands Beach), Kirsty Gage (Three Kings United)

Coaches: Nicola Demaine, Haley Gleeson

U-16 Girls

Tayla Hawes (Ellerslie), Rebecca Blakeman, Louise Turley (Bucklands Beach), Ava Collins, Hannah Pilley, Lizzie Ellis, Amy Waters (Eastern Suburbs), Fale’aka Bloomfield, Seina Foley-Okano, Genevieve Ryan, Margot Ramsay, Katjana Grgicevich (Western Springs), Jayden Watts, Britney Cunningham-Lee (Hamilton Wanderers), Kathryn Gow, Alisha Perry, Lily Dowsett (Three Kings United)

Coaches: Tracy Wrigley, Gemma Lewis

U-14 Boys

Sam Lonergan, James Shapland, Patrick Maher, Keagan Maclou, Josh Grant, Jack Van Luijken (Onehunga Sports), Samuel Jacob, Raekwon Coughlan, Leo Maisey, Luke Jerkovic, Liam Gilbert, Oliver Gray, Matt Thomas, Conor Timulty, Aidan Price, Kaea Rangihaeata (Western Springs), Fergus Harland (Eastern Suburbs)

Coaches: Maurie Wasi, Steven Upfold

U-15 Boys

Declan Viljoen, Campbell Strong (Eastern Suburbs), Harrison Freeman, Otto Ingham, Ivan Cibilich, Brad Thomas, Vincent Best (Western Springs), Joel Clissold, Aiden Iqbal, Zac Tobin, Sean Bright, Jaylen Rodwell, Max Barkley, David Wilson (Manurewa), Jake Moosbally, Tom Wilson, Ryan Verney, Joshua Larking (Onehunga Sports)

Coaches: Martin Rodwell, John Morgan

U-16 Boys

Dean Phommahaxay, Matthew Ellis, Hamish Grey, Jaden Chiplin (Onehunga Sports), Ronan Wynne, Brooklyn Heath, Andre Colpi, Enzo Tessandri, Giovani Peredo, Theo Mcintosh, Brad Wilson, Jackson Woods (Western Springs), Kai Gillespie (Eastern Suburbs), Joseph Scopas (Central United), Finn Rathbone(Ellerslie)

Coaches: James Debenham, Nic Downes