Frankston Junior Blues player Mitchell Riggs had the unusual honour of being selected to the Australian U17 Men's Squad of 16 on Saturday, one day before he was officially selected to the Victorian Metro U18 team.

Mitch found the tryout process “long and stressful” but found it all worthwhile when his name was called out for the final 20 players who competed recently in the East Coast Challenge in Sydney.

It was here that Mitch caught the eye of several Australian U17 assistant coaches which then led to U17 Australian Head Coach Guy Molloy to offer Mitch a spot in the Feb 12-14 camp held at the AIS to determine the team that will compete in the first ever U17 World Championships 2 July - 11 July 2010 in Hamburg, Germany.

Head Coach Guy Molloy said that Mitch’s elevation from being largely unheralded as an U16 player to a National Team Selection Camp“ is a credit to the coaches at Frankston and to Mitchell’s commitment.”
Molloy also went on to say that although Mitch was in “a unique situation, in that he has not played at the State level before being selected to the squad, he impressed the coaches at the East Coast Challenge and showed a lot of potential upside.”

Mitch will now continue to prepare for the Australian U18 Nationals held in Terrigal, NSW from 10-17 April which along with the Camp this month will serve as a proving ground for the U17 National team.

“When they called out my name at the final team selections, it was unbelievable. Playing for Victoria has been one of my goals for a very long time now and now that I have achieved it, I will make sure I make the most of it and represent the Frankston Blues and Victoria the best I can.”