Kellyville Kolts U15 Boys Gunning for Coveted NSW State Cup Title

Kellyville Kolts will be gunning for the Football NSW State Cup Finals U15 boys title on Sunday, July 13, when they take on Ryde Panthers at Valentine Sports Club. In all, 30 clubs are competing in different age group finals.

A win will catapult the Kolts to the coveted title in their third attempt, after injuries cramped their previous final campaigns. Kick off: 9.45am.

Kellyville Kolts president Bob Harrold praised coach Mike Gardiner, saying he has done an amazing job with the U15 squad.

“We are extremely proud of the team for coming this far,” Harrold said. “They’ve worked extremely hard as a team and are such a nice bunch of boys.

“Mike Gardiner is one of the best coaches at the club. He is one of our many ‘C’ Licence coaches and is truly dedicated to the team.

“We are so happy with all of the (Kolts) teams that competed this year with many of them making it through to the quarter-finals and have done super well.

“I want to thank all of the players and coaches from all of the teams that represent the Red and Black so brilliantly.”

With 165 teams and 2400 players, the Kolts are the biggest club in the Hills and the fourth biggest in NSW. Of the 11 Division 1 Kolts teams in the State Cup, three made it to semifinals and the rest entered the quarterfinals.

“We are so happy with all of their performances and most were simply unlucky not go all of the way,” Harrold said. “We are optimistic that many of these Division 1 teams will be selected for Champions of Champions at the end of the season.

The club has an impressive growth of 20% among the female players each year, thanks to their heavy investment. Currently there are 570 female players and a very high retention rate.

Prattent Cup Supports O’Brien’s Family
Meanwhile, the Prattent Cup continues to raise much-needed financial support for various charities and families in need. “This year we chose the O’Brien family as it was quite a tragic story for the family and we felt it would be a great gesture for the club to show them all the support we could.” Harrod said. “We were able to donate to them $20,000. So far, the Prattent Cup has raised over $170k for various causes over the last nine years.

Michael O’Brien was the father of then U5 Kolts player Teddy. Michael was to coach Teddy’s Swordfish team before his sad passing away. He was a devoted family man to his wife Olivia, and three young children Lily (an ex-Kolts player), Hattie and Teddy.