TWO clubs that have struggled at the senior level will showcase some of their young and upcoming stars at Horsham City Oval on Saturday.
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There will be groundbreaking firsts when Pimpinio and Taylors Lake teams face off in the under-14s grand final at the start of the day.
The Tigers have never had an under-14s team make the grand final while it will be an even bigger occasion for the Lakers.
Club president Brett Tough said to his knowledge there had never been a junior Taylors Lake side in the grand final.
“There certainly hasn’t been in my time with the club,” he said. "So that’s at least twenty years, I’d have to do more digging around to be completely sure but I think it’s a first.
“Both the clubs have struggled from time to time and its fantastic to see the juniors doing well.
“These kids will eventually become our seniors players.”
Pimpinio president Danny Hammerston said the club had been working hard on its junior program for the past eight years.
“We’ve had a quite a few teams play in finals but to get through to the grand final is a credit to the culture we have created and the coaches we’ve had in place,” he said.
“From a seniors perspective its important that we continue to have somewhere for the juniors to aspire playing.”
Both presidents said the success could be put down to the hard work put in by the players and coaches during the season.
Ash Webb teamed up with Brett Thompson to guided the young Pimpinio side through the season.
“The boys are all really excited,” Webb said.
“I think the biggest thing that has allowed the boys to get to this stage is how they’ve been able to play as a team.
“We’ve had most of these guys together for a while and we’ve been able to teach them a few basic setups and they just work together well.”
Taylors lake coach Brad Taylor had his team train at Horsham City Oval on Wednesday to familiarise themselves with the ground.
“There’s certainly a bit of a buzz around the boys and the club at the moment,” he said.
“The standard of junior footy across the league this season has been incredible.”