Canterbury Junior & Youth American Football

As a club, we are ridiculously proud to have 18 of our young Canterbury Panthers flag players selected to represent New Zealand this June in LA. An amazing opportunity for them to compete against 7 other nations on the world stage. We know they will go well 🔴⚫️🐾

Awesome to see so many of our AFC girls working out as part of the New Zealand U15 wider training squad over the weekend, under the watchful eye of .

We’re extremely proud of how far these young ladies have come and excited to see what the future holds for them.

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Proud of you Rory! Keep ballin’ mate.

One final shout out to all of those people who have contributed to making this another successful season for AFC juniors and youth!
Thank you to all our coaches who give up their time and are so passionate about developing our players.
Our wonderful parents who provide endless support on the sideline and ensure our players are there every week for practice and games - especially those who travel some distance to be there.
Lastly, but certainly not least, the biggest thank you goes to our incredible players. From our juniors, to our youth, to our representative players - your enthusiasm, your dedication and your willingness to learn, certainly doesn't go unnoticed. You guys are rockstars and we look forward to seeing everybody again next season!

A massive thank you to all of our fantastic sponsors. Their generosity allows us to continue to provide a high-level program to kids and teens across Canterbury. We are extremely grateful for the way they support us and what we do. We'd love if you could show them the love they show us and in-turn support these amazing businesses. Thank you!!

As we draw the curtain on another season, we just wanted to take a minute to shine a light on a guy who often goes under the radar.
James Lissaman is one of our AFOA refs based here in Christchurch. He doesn’t get the big Nationals games, he doesn’t get the overseas trips, he doesn’t get his name put up in lights on NZAFF or AFOA social media posts.
But James is absolutely invaluable to us. His focus is on our local competition and supporting our local kids. Week in and week out, we can count on James to be there to officiate. Whether it’s our junior or youth, flag or tackle, James always shows up. Quite simply, without him it would nearly be impossible for us to run the competitions we do.
And it doesn’t stop there. Not only does James referee, he also helps coach our juniors. He’s played a huge role in helping so many of our young players grow and develop.
Thank you James! We are incredibly lucky to have you and truly appreciate the time, energy, and passion you pour into junior and youth football in Canterbury.

New age grades not only benefitted our younger players, it also provided a lifeline to some of our older players who thought they were done with the youth grade. So we wheeled a few of our old boys out of the retirement home and put them on a plane to Auckland.
QB Adam Beaman was like a kid in a candy store with all the weapons at his disposal. For the first time ever, he was able to take the field with the freakish Mitch Murtha, and the pair definitely made the most of the opportunity. Time and time again, Beaman unleashed his cannon arm, finding the ridiculously athletic Murtha downfield in the endzone for touchdown after touchdown.
Along with these familiar faces, the team also featured a couple of newcomers making for a good mix of experience and enthusiasm.
The boys went through pool play undefeated, before a tough semi-final against the South Auckland Raiders. In the final, they faced off with Auckland's Metro Lions. Finals experience came to the surface, as the Panthers put in a strong showing to take the win and, for some of the boys, a fourth National title in as many years.
The U20s victory was the icing on the cake after a very successful two days at Nationals for all four Canterbury teams.

We were lucky enough to roll out an extremely talented U17 team. While over half the team had not played at Nationals before, seven of them had represented New Zealand last year, so the team boasted plenty of experience and ability.
Right out of the blocks on day one, the team flexed their muscle. The offence was led by QB Cooper Cowles who threw 32 touchdowns, compared to just 2 interceptions, over the course of the weekend. 12 of those touchdowns were caught by Toby Park who was a handful for any opposing DB.
On defence, the boys were just as impressive, allowing only two teams to score a touchdown against them. Defensive captain Matt Sellers showed plenty of versatility, making sacks, snagging picks and generally putting in an impressive all-around performance.
The final pitted the Panthers against tough rivals Metro Lions Juniors, who Canterbury had narrowly beaten the day before. The Lions had an impressive lineup, featuring six New Zealand reps themselves. The game was an absolute barnburner, with the lead changing hands a number of times and so many key moments that could have turned the game either way. In the end, it all came down to one play. On fourth down, with less than 30 seconds remaining and down by one point on the scoreboard, the Panthers launched one final jump ball into the front of the endzone, where that man Toby Park, went up and came down with it for the winning score. The Canterbury sideline lost it's minds and our U17's were National Champs. Nerves shot, bodies spent, but worth every single minute.

New grades at Nationals this year gave some of our juniors the opportunity to step up and put their talents on display on the big stage in the U15 division. And they didn't disappoint! Under the watchful eye of New Zealand U15 Assistant Coach Tim Cliff, the team worked hard at practice. The boys showed plenty of enthusiasm and were eager to learn more about strategy and concepts.
That hard work translated to a successful first day at their first ever Nationals, as they went through pool play undefeated. Will Swart, Levi Currie, Baxter van Onselen and Charlie Pickering shone on offence, while pass rusher Sam Payton was putting plenty of pressure on opposition QBs.
Day 2 saw them start the day with a win over the Waitakere Bandits in the semi-final, before going down to a very well drilled Tauranga City Tridents team in a tight U15 Championship Final.
The team can be extremely proud of their efforts, earning plenty of praise for their play and their sportsmanship. The future looks bright for AFC!

For the very first time, we had a girls youth team head to Nationals! The team was a mix of flag experience, with some players having a couple of seasons under the belt, to some only having played a handful of games. And who better to bring this team together and mentor these young ladies, than the godfather of NZ flag, Ariel Metekingi.
They faced some challenges leading up to the tournament, none bigger than losing QB1 Aaliyah Eggers to injury just before the tournament. A special mention needs to go to Milani Peteru, who stepped into the quarterback position two weeks before Nationals, having never played there before. Impressively, Aaliyah was right by her side at every practice helping her get up to speed. That's a real team player!
Day 1 in Auckland was a tough introduction for the girls, but they accounted themselves well with a couple of close losses (including a 6 point loss to the eventual champs) and their first ever win! Day two saw them go from strength to strength, working well as a team and making it through to the 3rd place playoff, where they came away with the win to end a successful debut tournament for them. The team added so much to our touring squad and had as much fun off the field as they did on it. We're so proud of this team and can't wait to see what these young superstars can do over the next few years as they continue to grow and develop in the sport!!

Images of our 2026 Nationals campaigns 📸