More than ten Primary Schools in Port Moresby will compete in the 2023 Smart Start Junior
School Competition. The tournament is scheduled to kick off every Saturday at the Murray
Barracks Oval once all participating schools are confirmed.
In light of the season, the competition started two weeks ago, with friendly games played by
schools that had shown up at the Oval. The preseason has ended in round three, and students
will compete in the real challenger next week.
The participating teams are distributed into two divisions, Under-13s and Under-15s. Students
in Grade 4 and 5 are recommended to join under-13s (U13s) while the Grade 6, 7, and 8 are
categorized as the U15s. Each division will have a male and female team.
In the meantime, not all schools showed up for the matches last Saturday. Only a few schools
showed up.
AFL PNG Development Manager David Topeni said the slow start had given ample time for the
organizers to finalize the draws.
“Schools did not turn up as scheduled. This has given us a slow start but we are giving them
time. By Week 3, we should finalize everything and put out the draws”, said David Topeni.
“We expect all of the participating schools to be here by next week”, added Topeni.
Schools that participated in the last two weeks include Taurama, Waigani, St. Therese Primary,
St Peters and Kilakila Primary Schools. Schools yet to join by Week 3 include Gerehu, St Paul’s,
June Valley, Tokarara, Sacred Heart, Hohola Demonstration, and Coronation, Bavaroko Primary
Schools.
More so, there is a new and exciting inclusion into the competition: the Gereka Bombers.
Bombers have U13 and U15 divisions that serve as development teams for their senior club
which is affiliated with Port Moresby AFL.
The competition is part of the Papua New Guinea Australian Football League (PNG AFL)
Development Program.
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