Some of the most talented junior footballers in the country are set to descend upon Devonport this weekend for the 2020 National SAP festival.
The event, which will showcase some of the best under 12 and 13 players in the country, will feature teams from around Tasmania and Australia in three days of nonstop footballing action taking place from Friday 21 February to Sunday 23 February. With Valley Road undergoing ground resurfacing, this years event will be held at Meercroft Park.
The aim of the festival is to provide young players in this age group a high level of competition to demonstrate their skills they have been developing over the past 3-4 years. This festival also gives local players a taste of interstate competition in preparation to them moving into youth football in the coming years.
Six Tasmanian club sides will be competing (Devonport Strikers, Riverside Olympic, Launceston City, Olympia Warriors, Cradle Coast and South Hobart) as well as two Football Tasmania rep sides coming from the TSP Program. There will also be interstate visitors with sides from South Australia, New South Wales and the Northern Territory flying down to take part.
Football Tasmania CEO Matt Bulkeley said the event was one of the highlights of the Footballing Calendar.
"The National SAP festival has become one of the highlights of the season. It's one of the best events on the Tasmanian Footballing calendar and it's pleasing to see it continue to go from strength to strength. It's great to see an increased number of local club teams participating this year and it will be a great experience for our young Tasmanian players to test themselves against the visiting mainland sides.
Events like these really helps put Tasmania on the national stage and the City of Devonport has proved itself the ideal hosts for the event. The support from all involved in helping to put on this event has been fantastic and we thank everyone for their efforts, especially the club volunteers who have worked so hard behind the scenes."
With such a wealth of talented youngsters on display, the festival is sure to attract the attention of A-League talent scouts who will be looking to identify future stars of the game in Australia.
You can grab your copy of the Match and Event schedule from the link below.
National SAP Festival Schedule