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THE CLUBS
KURAKUMS U 16's
HIGHLANDS REGION U13's & U15's
ISLANDS REGION U13's & U15's
NORTHERN REGION U13's & U15's
SOUTHERN REGION U13's & U15's
AFL PNG NATIONAL PROGRAMS
AFL PNG have two national programs that involve females, as well as males. They are Pikinini Pilai Rules and the PJV Raitman Program.
The Pikinini Pilai Rules program is a program for children of both sexes aged from 7 to 12 years of age.
The program is delivered in PNG Primary schools and is based on the Australia Auskick program.
The PJV Raitman program is a six week skills focused program for 12 to 18 year olds, and leads into local schools based competitions. It also includes components on umpiring and running a small competition, as well as having a strong focus on community responsibilities, exemplary conduct and personal behavioral choices.
2007 AFL JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The championships have an Under 15 Girls section that involve four teams;
Southern Region
Northern Region
Highlands Region
Islands Region
In the 2007 Championships held at Igam Barracks, Lae between 24th September and 28th September, were won by the Northern Region.
35 girls were also selected to be part of the 2008 Kurakums squad.
‘THE KURAKUMS’
The Kurakums are the first female contact sport team to represent PNG, and they have done it with style.
After introducing Girls AFL at a local level in March 2005 (Under 13 & Under 15 age groups), followed by the representation of Under 15’s at the AFLPNG National Youth Carnival in October 2005. Due to the incredible response, a National Under 16 Squad was selected and named The Kurakums, and they were invited to play at the 2006 AFL Queensland State Development Championships held in Cairns during October 2006.
They proved to be extremely competitive at the Championships, finishing 3rd, winning their playoff and receiving a standing ovation by the crowd.
The other representative teams were AFL Cape York, AFL Cairns & AFL Southeast Queensland, Considering the fact that AFL Girls competitions had been established for many years and the fact that the PNG girls had never played together until 12 hours after arriving in Cairns for the Championships, and most had never flown in a plane before, this was a fantastic result for them
They were scheduled to play in the opening game and were extremely competitive. They even beat AFL Cairns by a comfortable margin.
After having several key players injured, the squad was reduced to only 16 fit players, but got within one goal of reaching the playoff for 1st place.
Four players were selected in the Queensland Under 16 Girls All-Stars team. They were Anita Ani, Naomi Alopa, Manda Ipat and Sylvia Kotapu.
In 2007, The Kurakums went all the way, returning to PNG as 2007 Queensland State Champions, remaining undefeated throughout the tournament. In fact the only team to score against them was their opponent in the Grand Final, AFL Cape York, who managed 2.3 (15), while The Kurakums kicked 5.3 (33), winning by 18 points.
Over the four games, The Kurakums scored a total of 20.19 while only conceding the 2.3 that was scored against them in the G.F.
Evidence of their total domination of the Championships was proven by the selection of nine players in the 2007 Queensland All-Stars. They were Winifred Crompton, Michelle Magae, Jacobeth Nanege, Mary Savou, Samantha Nalong, Sylvia Kotapu, Barthseba Laisia, Oscilla Bulla & Mildred Veau.
Captain Sylvia Kotapu has now been selected in the All-Stars both times.
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