The Newcastle Jets have all but completed their playing roster for the National Youth League (NYL) 2009/10 season after today announcing a further four signings.
Born-and-bred Novocastrian and current Qantas Next Young Socceroos starlet, James Virgili, heads the crop of youngsters to recently sign with the Hunter club. Last season, Virgili became the youngest player to ever appear in the Hyundai A-League, making his debut against Wellington Phoenix in January when he was aged 16 years 180 days.
Scott Balderson, a former Qantas Young Socceroo and Stevenage Borough FC midfielder in the English Conference National division, and Mario Simic of Sydney United have also joined the Jets, while Mounties FC custodian Dion Shaw rounds out the goalkeepers in the squad.
Few positions on the 16-man roster now remain to be filled for the Newcastle Jets Youth Team, who will take on Broadmeadow Magic in a trial match tonight from 6:30pm at Adamstown Oval.
“It-s good to have the bulk of the squad finalised now,” Jets- NYL coach Craig Deans said this afternoon. “The players have been training as a group for some time and we can now move onto playing a few trial matches before the season proper gets underway.”
“We-ve compiled a strong squad for this season and we-ll be looking for each and every player to develop as the weeks roll on.”
“We have the best local talent from Newcastle, as well as some outstanding young players from within the state, and that gives us a good mix for the season. We have selected a team of players who all have the potential to progress up to Hyundai A-League level and that is really what the National Youth League is all about in this stage of development,” said Deans.
Newcastle Jets Youth Team squad: Scott BALDERSON, Jon GRIFFITHS, Fabian IACOVELLI, Adrian KARAKOLEVSKI, Robbie KOLAK (gk), Mirjan PAVLOVIC, Jesse PINTO, Taylor REGAN, Jarrad ROSS, Dion SHAW (gk), Matt SIM, Mario SIMIC, James VIRGILI
