Best in the business: BASL under-11 girls win Victoria Country title

The Bendigo girls completed a brilliant country championships with a superb 4-0 win over Albury in Monday's final in Geelong.

The under-11 girls' triumph capped a great weekend for BASL, with the under-16 girls and under-15 boys also making grand finals.

"It was a cracking weekend,'' BASL president Aaron Shooter said.

"We've missed this tournament over the past few years. During COVID we were able to train, but we didn't have these tournaments to play in to cap off all the work.

"Across the board we did really well. We were super competitive across all age groups and inside the top three in most of them.

"We were really proud of all the teams in the way they represented the league.

"It's not just about results, this tournament gives these kids an experience outside of club football where they get to build relationships with kids their age that they usually play against each Saturday.

"It breeds camaraderie throughout the competition."

The strength of girls' soccer in central Victoria was shown by the under-11s' triumph and the under-16s' runner-up performance.

"The growth and participation of girls football in our region is really encouraging,'' Shooter said.

"The success of the under-11s is the culmination of three to four years of girls football at club level.

"We're building our resources around girls football to support the players coming through.

"Our under-16 girls squad this year was basically a group of under-15 players. There wasn't an under-15 division for them to play in, so they played against older girls.

"The Albury team they played in the final was red hot and, I think, they had a couple of Young Matildas players in their squad.

"A lot of our team will be back next year in that age group and I'm really excited to see what they can do."

The under-15 boys were unlucky to lose their final 2-1 to Albury.

BASL had 11 teams in total compete against elite juniors from Geelong, Ballarat, Albury/Wodonga, Gippsland, La Trobe Valley, Mildura, Shepparton and Warrnambool.

"Across the board our teams played some really good football,'' Shooter said.

"The standard of the competition was really high and our kids did themselves proud."

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