Sport
3 November, 2022
Sisters on song at junior Oz(tag) championships
SISTERS Ayvah and Rihanna Latham played oztag at national level for the first time as they represented the Metro North Marlins U17 girls in the Junior Australian Championships at Coffs Harbour last month.
The dream was belatedly realised for the sisters, who had hoped to achieve it in the previous two years but were denied as Covid repeatedly cancelled the event.
There were girls and boys teams from U9s through to U17s as there were 167 teams and more than 2600 players from across the country, for the matches at C.ex Coffs International Stadium and Geoff King Oval.
A Year 12 student at the Caboolture-based St Columban’s College, Ayvah captained the Marlins and played middle while Year 9 student Rihanna played inside link.
The sisters played side by side and worked well together on the field as they had a hand in numerous tries. The Metro North U17 girls came seventh out of nine teams before exiting in the quarter-finals.
The Marlins began the three-day championships with a 4-2 loss to Stingrays, followed by a 6-0 loss to ACT and a 5-0 win over East Coast Orcas.
On day two, the Marlins went down 3-1 to Coffs Harbour before sustaining two hefty defeats: 15-2 to the top-placed Central Coast, and 10-1 to the second-placed Illawarra.
On the third and final day which was a Sunday, the Marlins went down 8-0 to Illawarra which went on to lose a tight decider 2-1 to Central Coast.
It was the third straight title for Central Coast in the U17 girls division.
Ayvah’s and Rihanna’s mum Katie said the standard of oztag was harder and faster than what they had previously played, but that they loved every minute of it.
Although the sisters didn’t gain Australian selection, Katie said Ayvah was very dedicated to oztag and was driven to make it to the highest level.
“Ayvah has just come back from shoulder surgery last year and is better than she has been,” Katie said.
Rihanna, on the other hand, is set to change focus next year and play rugby league for the Caboolture Snakes women’s team.
While in Coffs Harbour recently, the sisters also visited The Big Banana.
“It was about a five-hour trip one way to get our girls to this tournament but we made it a family trip and made it to some tourist spots,” Katie said.
