It’s representative season for these high performing juniors

It’s not only football and netball either, the reach of our talented juniors extends to all corners of sport.

Here I will highlight just a small contingent of our up-and-coming elite athletes as they prepare to take on representative duties throughout the rest of the year.

Football

Jobe Shanahan

Shanahan is no stranger to the Riv and community as his journey through the Coates Talent League playing for the Bendigo Pioneers has been a subject of particular interest.

Last week, he was nominated along with 64 other prospects from around Australia to attend the 2024 AFL Draft Combine.

The three-day testing will take place in Melbourne between Friday, October 4, and Sunday, October 6.

Shanahan has been touted as a top-20 draft prospect and recently debuted for Essendon’s VFL side where he kicked four goals.

Sage Dennis

Dennis has played for both Echuca United and Bendigo Pioneers this past year and was selected to be part of the under-15 Victorian girls, School Sport Victoria team which competed in School Sport Nationals in Queensland last week.

Following some stellar performances in that competition, Dennis was named in the Under-15 All Australian Team.

Dennis was also named in the best players list for Echuca United Youth Girls in their grand final victory of Shepparton United at Deakin Oval on Sunday, August 4.

Moama Juniors

Three of Moama’s junior players, Sophie Millar, Tommy Dohnt and Chloe Ryan, have been selected to compete in the School Sports Under-12’s National AFL Championships from Sunday, August 4, to Saturday, August 10

Millar will represent NSW while Dohnt and Ryan will represent Victoria.

The competition will give the three youngsters the chance to showcase their talent and hard work.

Netball

Moama’s Abby Larkin has been selected in the Under-19 Victorian State Squad ahead of the 2025 National Netball Championships which will kick off in the first week of school holidays in April.

The 50-player squads will undertake trials over the coming weeks before being narrowed down to teams of 12.

The teams will then train together from January until the championships.

Echuca player coach Belinda Lees was named assistant coach for the under-19 state squad in July.

Soccer

Laura Stone, a Year 7 student at Australian Christian College Echuca, has been selected for the under-12 girls Victoria state football team.

Stone has been training with the under-12 boys team at Shepparton South (SJSA) and in the under-12 boys development squad (SJSA).

She’s also had the opportunity to train with the Melbourne City under-13 girls' select squad where they got to play against Melbourne Victory.

Bowls

Moama Steamers player Jacob Brighton, 14, was runner-up in the inaugural Victorian Indoor Championships on Saturday.

This was the lead-up event before all Victorian qualifiers head to Tweed Heads on August 12 for the Australian Indoor Championships.

Brighton was part of the team that won The Bendigo Campaspe Goldfields Bowls Region Premier League title in March.

Cricket

Echuca cricket young gun Grace Moyle has been named to the 2024/25 Under-19 Female Emerging Players Program Squad.

The program aims to prepare players for the rigours of professional cricket through continued exposure to high level competition such as Victorian Premier Cricket and the Under-19 National Championships.

Moyle is no stranger to the big stage, having represented Vic Country as part of its Under-19 national championship squad.

Golf

Echuca-Moama golfer D’arcy Whyte will be competing in the School Sport Australia Under-18 Golf Championship in Canberra.

The event will run from August 18 to August 23 at Royal Canberra Golf Course.

Whyte, 18, is currently attending Year 12 at the Echuca College, and lives in Moama. He is also a two-time Rich River Golf Club Junior Championship title holder.