Whanganui Athletic’s Under-17s boys team going up against Central North Island’s best

The tournament will giver younger players a taste of top-level football. Photo / Karen Hughes

Whanganui Athletic have been doing battle in football’s Central League this season and now its under-17 boys team are following suit.

They have got the call-up for the Youth National League - a post-regular season tournament made up of the best age-group clubs from the central and lower North Island.

Like the senior team, the boys would be up against “powerhouses” from Wellington, Athletic president Peter Czerwonka said.

“All those Wellington clubs have academies, amazing coaches, and train multiple times a week.

“We [Athletic] eventually want to have an academy structure and we’re working behind the scenes to make that happen.

“This is a really cool acknowledgment from the powers that be that we are taking the right steps.”

The Central Youth National League is made up of eight capital teams and four central teams.

The Athletic Under-17s are the only Whanganui club in the Manawatū Division 1 league and have been finalists for the last two years.

Czerwonka said if the boys finished at the top of their pool, they would go into the national phase against the top six clubs in the country.

“Whenever they reach a point where they can push into senior football, it’s often quite a big shock and it takes a lot of time to adjust, just because they’ve never played against teams and players like that.

“This gives us an opportunity to regularly expose them to that level before they are in senior contention.”

The club was really striving to offer younger players a pathway to top-level football, Czerwonka said.

“Obviously the [Athletic] reserves team is the next step in the development pathway. There are lots of youngsters in there.

“They are second in the Horizons Premiership. They are playing great football and offering really good depth for our Central League side as well.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.