Jasper, Connor and Thomas don the big V

THREE of the area’s best young talents have been selected to represent their state in the 2023 Under 15 School Sports Australia (SSA) National Championships in Ballarat.

Jasper Shone of Inverloch and Thomas McMillan of Phillip Island have been chosen to represent Victoria Navy, one of Victoria’s two teams, in the eight-day carnival that started last Saturday.

Connor McMillan, Thomas’ twin brother, has also been chosen as an emergency for Victoria’s other team, Victoria White.

The local trio will compete against teams from all other states and territories in the eight-day tournament, representing their state, school, local club and families.

The boys also all play for the Wonthaggi Power under 16s side and the club’s operations manager Stuart Gilmour spoke on the process that saw them picked and what it means for the area.

“It’s pretty big, they’ve already been on camps and now there’s the eight-day carnival so there’s a fair cost involved,” he said.

“We’ve been pretty stagnant over the last three years in sport and participation, we’d just like to see our schools take their sport as seriously as they can and promote these kids to play at a high level if they choose to,

“I think the pathway could continue from the school perspective because you have the Coates Talent League but not everyone gets an opportunity there, so we believe that through school and through club sport, we provide a place for the kids to come and have a good time with their mates.”

The Wonny’ Power trio have been tearing up the field together this season and have converted their performances from clubland to school, and that connection is strong.

Shone plays as a tall key position player, using his great marking ability to impact games, he’s also been lauded for his mentality.

“His progress over the last 12 months through the South Gippsland All Stars has been amazing, he’s come over from Inverloch, he’s a talented kid and we’ve found his best attributes are around his teammates, he’s team driven,” said Gilmour.

The ‘McMillan twins’ as they are commonly referred to as, are prolific ball winners, both inside the contest and outside, possessing elite skills and high work rates, they too combine this with being outstanding young men.

“Both of those boys are so team-orientated, they didn’t even want to get their photos taken, they didn’t like to see themselves in the limelight, their growth has been in their work rate on the field,” Gilmour said.

“They all believe they would not have got to where they are without their teammates.”

Selection into a state representative side is an incredible achievement, but for these three 15-year-olds, it hasn’t come without a wealth of fantastic support, as Gilmour explained.

“They’re all supported by really good parents, their contributions at club level have been huge, for us, the boys earning this selection has been a story about the parents committing and their teammates helping them get to where they want to be,

“It’s not always about the individual, its about being coached by the right people at school, and at club level, I just really think the parents need to be acknowledged, they’re not over the top but they’re just always there, always travelling and helping out.”

Gilmour finished by highlighting the importance of the achievement for sport in the region with a strong message.

“We’d love to be able to see it exposed a bit more, I guess the focus is – it can sometimes be the parenting that holds the kids back from participation in these sports because they may not have the time or other reasons,

“We’d love to see that message get out there that these sporting clubs our whole area, they’re good places to have your kid grow up in and become good people and good leaders in our community.”

Jasper and Thomas were presented their jumpers by AFL rookies Elijah Tsatas (Essendon) and Blake Drury (North Melbourne) who were both drafted in 2022, three years after playing for Victoria in SSA Championships themselves.

Connor was presented his jumper by AFL players Josh Gibcus (Richmond) and Josh Goater (North Melbourne).

The experience in Ballarat is the next step in what has already been two impressive young careers for the McMillan twins, who have represented Gippsland Power in the VLine Country Carnival in 2022 as well as playing for Southern Gippsland All Stars in under 12s and this season in under 15s.

They also both got to play in the inaugural 2023 Virtue Homes All Star under 18s match in Traralgon earlier this year.

The local trio are in action in Ballarat this week, after kicking off last Saturday.