In a strong show of support to the city’s AFL representative teams, the Gold Coast SUNS visited the Northern and Southern Gold Coast Stingrays squads after their impressive performances at the opening matches of the U16 Queensland State Championship on the weekend.

The Northern side recorded a comfortable 31-point win against Brisbane West at Yeronga, while the Gold Coast Souths provided a thrilling competition-opener as they narrowly escaped defeat by securing a 5-point victory over the Sunshine Coast.

In a bid to provide the Gold Coast teams an opportunity to mingle with some of the AFL’s stars, just over 11 GC SUNS players headed out to the two training grounds for a mentoring and educational visit.

Co-ordinated alongside AFL Queensland, the GC SUNS players set up different training groups for each aspiring forward, midfielder and defender – with the unique player-junior experience aimed at delivering each representative footballer the opportunity to learn from their favourite AFL heroes in their respective fields.

Skipper Gary Ablett made a special surprise appearance at the South’s training camp, and provided a great insight into the busy training schedule required by all professional athletes at the elite level.

AFL Queensland Gold Coast Manager – Richie Lyons, told goldcoastfc.com.au that that the AFL appearance by the Gold Coast SUNS was felt strongly throughout the both Stingray’s camps.

“For many of the Stingray players the opportunity to learn from an AFL veteran as large as Gary Ablett is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Lyons.

“It’s great to see the GC SUNS players maintain such an active stake in the local community, and to see the kids so receptive to the mentoring sessions have been fantastic – so we’re looking forward to seeing the community appearances continue to grow stronger in future years.”