Thirty-five teams from across the north stepped out onto normally sunny Townsville’s Queens Park to contest this year’s championships, an increase of six teams from last year’s event.
Standing out from the rest were the two Charters Towers Tigers teams, competing in the Men’s Open Tier 2 and Women’s Open Tier 2 divisions respectively.
It’s the first time since 2008 that the Charters Towers Touch Association have entered teams into the regional championships, and the first time in over ten years that more than one Charters Towers side has competed at the event.
It’s paid off big time, with the Women’s Open side claiming the Tier 2 crown when they defeated Atherton 1-nil in a hard-fought final on a wet Sunday afternoon.
After a scoreless first half it was Charters Towers Merial Keni that crossed the line late in the second half and put the Tigers on the board and in the lead.
Despite a last-ditch surge by Atherton, a strong Charters Towers defence ensured that the Tigers remained in the lead for the remaining few minutes.
The title is a first for the Charters Towers Touch Association and it’s something that President Charles Youngberry is keen to improve on.
“It was a great effort by the girls to come away with the win. They played really well all weekend. They obviously benefited from the experience of Kay [Lenitschek] and Nicole [Edwards].”
Lenitschek capped off the weekend by also being named ‘Player of the Final’ for the Women’s Open Tier 2 division.
Fellow Tiger Bianca Peace received further representative honours after being named in the Cyclones Women's Under 20 side to contest the 2014 QLD State Championships and 2015 National Touch League.
Youngberry was pleased with the amount of interest received by local players this year, but concedes there’s definitely room to improve.
“We had a lot of interest initially this year. It’s something we’ve been working towards over the last few years. The hardest part was getting commitment [from the players], but in the end the group we took away definitely showed they were.”
“We entered four sides into last year’s NQ Juniors [Regional Championships] and it was great to see so many of those players in our under 16’s sides step up and play in the Open division.”
As a result, Youngberry believes that players from Charters Towers now stand a better chance of being selected into higher representative sides.
“We had Connor Lerch [Boys Under 12] and Lachlan Reddicliffe [Boys Under 14] selected into the junior Cyclones sides this year and hopefully next year we will see a few more.”
Lerch and Reddicliffe will represent North Queensland at the 2014 Queensland Junior State Touch Football Championships, to be held at Palm Beach in August.
Yougberry is already looking forward to the 2014 North Queensland Junior Regional Touch Football Championships, hoping to improve on last year’s team numbers.
“We would love to take away as many sides as possible [to the tournament]. The kids really enjoyed it last year and hopefully are keen to do it all again.”
Full results from the weekend:
Men’s Open Tier 1: Thuringowa (8) defeated Townsville (6)
Player of Final: Michael Law (Thuringowa)
Referees: Paul Edmondson, Scott Marsh, Jason Miller
Men’s Open Tier 2: Atherton (4) defeated Mackay (3)
Player of Final: Sean Kelly (Atherton)
Referees: Hayden Smith, Fiona Quinn, Hayden Hilyear
Women’s Open Tier 1: Thuringowa (8) defeated Townsville (6)
Player of Final: Riley Seamark (Thuringowa)
Referees: Denise Weier, Amanda Single, Renee Janes
Women’s Open Tier 2: Charters Towers (1) defeated Atherton (0)
Player of Final: Kay Lenitschek (Charters Towers)
Referees: Morgan Brough, Isis Symes, Karlie Riesen
Men’s 30: Townsville (9) defeated Mackay (3)
Player of Final: Joel Pollock (Townsville)
Referees: Kerrod Hall, Marcus Muller, Chris Benstead
Men’s 40: Townsville (7) defeated Atherton (6)
Player of Final: Damien Logan (Townsville)
Referees: John Viklund, Matt Manning, Darryl Lyon
Men’s 50: Cairns Pirates (4) defeated Townsville (3)
Player of Final: Frank Stampa (Cairns)
Referees: Andrew Watkins, Damion Johnston, Norm Thirkell
Women’s 20: Burdekin (8) defeated Townsville Green (5)
Player of Final: Kate Neal (Burdekin)
Referees: Danielle Maltby, Andrew, Burry, Brenton Murray
Women’s 27: Cairns Pirates (9) defeated Mackay (3)
Player of Final: Raquel Moon (Cairns)
Referees: Taleisha Perfect, Emily Marsh, Brayden Boske
Women’s 35: Townsville (6) defeated Atherton (0)
Player of Final: Sandie Wilson (Townsville)
Referees: Alison Watters, Rob McKay, Regan Cheetham
Referee Awards
Referee of the Championships: Paul Edmondson
Most Promising Male Referee: Hayden Hilyear
Most Promising Female Referee: Karli Riesen