Ballarat City Football Club’s Zac Francis and Eero Partonen will represent Victoria Country as part of the under-13 squad at Football Federation Australia’s national youth championships.
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The five-day competition, which starts on Monday, offers the opportunity for the best 13 and 14-year-old players in the country to compete under the watchful eye of A-League academy scouts.
Both Francis and Partonen were selected after a gruelling trial process, which included weekly training sessions in Melbourne on top of their weekly club commitments in Ballarat.
Ballarat City’s Michael Busija said the players would be exposed to elite level coaching, sports science, match analysis, recovery and nutrition during the tournament in Coffs Harbour.
“As a club we are extremely proud of both players and wish them all the very best.
“For us, this is what the club exists for to assist players in gaining opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have been afforded,” he said.
Busija said both players were extremely dedicated and had professional standards beyond their years.
“For Zac this is the culmination of a number of seasons with Ballarat City, whereas for Eero it’s been a steady rise from his grassroots club in Daylesford into the NPL ranks with Ballarat City and now a chance to compete on a national level.”
Busija described the achievement as a massive stepping stone in the development of any junior player.
Players such as Stefan Nigro, now a full back with A-League team Brisbane Roar, and current first team player Michael Trigger have both been a part of the tournament in their junior years.
Both Francis and Partonen said the selection had been their biggest achievement to date as they begin to carve out their dreams of one day playing professionally.
Although he is barely in his teens, Francis said he had been playing soccer for close to a decade, starting when he was two or three years old.
“I’m looking forward to playing against all the different players and challenging myself,” Francis said. “There will be lots of scouts there, people watching you, so just trying to get on the radar.”
Partonen, who started playing soccer when he was seven, is looking forward to seeing all the different levels of competition.
He has played in Scotland, England and Queensland before he moved to Ballarat.
The pair, who will spend their first week of school holidays competing, fly to Coffs Harbour on Sunday.
Trials to join Ballarat City in 2019 begin in late October.
Any player looking to join can head to Ballarat City’s Facebook page to complete an expression of interest via the link provided.
