SOME of the most talented junior footballers showcased their skills at Alberton Oval at the weekend as Port Adelaide hosted the 2018 Nunga Next Generation Football Carnival.

About 300 boys and girls aged 15-17 took part in the event, which doubled as selection trials for the Power’s Aboriginal AFL Academies.

The carnival is jointly run by the Nunga Next Generation Delegates Group and Port Adelaide’s Aboriginal Programs team in a concept which started eight years ago with a Nunga netball carnival to help talented players from across the state be identified for elite-level pathways.

This year was the second year of the football carnival, which gives SANFL club development officers a chance to scout the next generation of indigenous footballers.

Participants in 2018 represented eight teams from communities including Oodnadatta, the Flinders Ranges, Lake Eyre, Koonibba and Mallee Park.

“Whenever you hold an Aboriginal football carnival there is always a lot of pride and passion that comes out because they are representing their family and their people,” said Port Adelaide Aboriginal Programs Coordinator Marlon Motlop.

“But it’s all been played in really good spirits and Mallee Park have been leading the way along with the Adelaide Kaurna Team.”

Prior to the carnival’s commencement, on Friday night, some of the boys and girls were put through their paces in audition for spots in the Power’s industry-leading Aboriginal AFL Academy and Women’s Aboriginal AFL Academy programs.

“We had a really good day on Friday with the testing and then games started on Saturday,” Motlop said.

“There has been a lot of interest in the academies so it is great to be able to have the carnival to give us a chance to see them all playing.”

Mallee Park, featuring familiar names Kysaiah Pickett (nephew of Power premiership star Byron Pickett), Jase Burgoyne (son of Power premiership player Peter Burgoyne) and Ricky O’Loughlin (a relative of former Sydney great Michael O’Loughlin and Adelaide player Graham Johncock), took out the carnival, beating Kaurna in the final by 68 points.

The team was coached by former Port Magpies and Hawthorn player Harry Miller, who works with the Power Aboriginal Programs team.

Mallee Park’s Mihail Lochowiak was named player of the carnival with Kaurna’s Malachai Ahmatt-Lovett runner-up.

The Nunga Next Generation Netball Carnival featured 12 teams including sides from the Riverland, Port Augusta, Port Lincoln and Far North Flinders.

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