Former names Teal Cup (1953–1995) | First held 1953 | |
Sport Australian rules football Organiser Australian Football League Last winner (D1) Vic Country
(D2) NSW/ACT Most wins (D1) Vic Metro (14)
(D2) Tasmania (7) | ||
The NAB AFL Under 18 Championships are the annual national Australian rules football championships for players aged 18 years or younger. The competition is seen as one of the main pathways towards being drafted into a team in the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). Originally known as the Teal Cup, the competition began in 1953 between Queensland and New South Wales, but now features teams from each Australian state and mainland territory. For the purposes of the competition, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory have combined since 1996 to form one team (NSW/ACT), and players from Victoria have been split into two teams (Vic Metro and Vic Country) since 1989. The tournament is currently sponsored by the National Australia Bank, having previously been sponsored by Caltex and the Commonwealth Bank. The winners of the 2015 tournament were Vic Country (Division 1) and Queensland (Division 2).
Awards
The Larke Medal is awarded to the best player in Division 1 of the competition. It is named in honour of a junior footballer, Michael Larke, who was killed in a bus crash while attending a trial match for New South Wales. The Hunter Harrison Medal is awarded to the best player in Division 2 and is named in honour of the former president and life member of the Northern Territory Football League, Hunter Harrison, who played a major role in the development of the AFL youth championships.