Follow the leader: Tongala senior football captain Kyle Fitzgerald (left) and his buddy Cruz Kreymborg during the stretching component of the football and netball Buddy Program that involves players from all grades of Murray league competition.
Tongala’s junior footballers and netballers had stars in their eyes last week when the club held its monthly Buddy session.
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The club’s Under-11, Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 netballers partnered up with players from the four senior teams and, not far away on a cold winter’s night, under-age footballers rubbed shoulders with their heroes on the recreation reserve.
Kaitlyn Souter, who has overseen the development of the program, said the Blues ran monthly sessions and many senior members of the club kept in contact with their buddies during the season — even outside of competition hours.
“A lot of them watch each other’s games,’’ she said.
“The buddy sessions are just a bit of fun, we play some games and build the connection.’’
Tongala will be strongly represented in the Murray league netball finals this season, when the buddy program will be at its height.
“The most positive thing has been the feedback from the parents of our juniors, about just how much the kids enjoy the program,” Souter said.
Not surprisingly the most attention on the football field was reserved for Harley Reid, the Tongala product tipped to be the number one selection at this year’s November AFL draft.
Blues ‘’sisters’’: Asha Radley and Halle Gray take some time out during the Buddy Program training session to smile for the Free Press camera.
– Tongala sits second on the Murray league’s A-grade netball ladder, having lost just one game this season.
The club has two tests in the final four weeks, against fourth-ranked Mulwala and fifth-placed Echuca United.
Eleven wins from 13 games has the Tongala B-grade team sitting third but with the chance to improve as it faces second-ranked Mulwala in a fortnight.
Tongala’s C-grade team is second only to the unbeaten Moama team with four rounds to play.
At C-reserve level, the Blues sit two games inside the top five and are most likely elimination final bound, having two games they will be expected to win in the final four weeks of competition.
Tongala will not play in the Under-17 finals, having a 4-9 win/loss record and facing three teams above it on the ladder in the final month of home and away competition.
At Under-15 level, the Blues are sitting seventh, equal on points with sixth-ranked Cobram, but have games against three teams below it on the season to end the year.
Tongala sits sixth in the Under-13 competition with matches against the two teams directly above it on the ladder remaining.
It also faces two teams below it and will need to keep winning to keep seventh-ranked Deniliquin from stealing the last spot in the finals.
Fast feet: Connie Blake and Ivy Beach warming up on the sidelines during the Buddy session that attracted an enormous response to the Tongala club last week.
Tall and short: Sam Cipriani (left) towers above his buddy Tex Townsend as the senior and junior footballers complete a training session on Tongala Recreation Reserve last Thursday.
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