AFL Under 18 Championships


The NAB AFL Under 18 Championships are the annual national Australian rules football championships for players aged 18 years or younger. The competition is seen as one of the main pathways towards being drafted into a team in the fully professional Australian Football League. Originally known as the Teal Cup, the competition began in 1953 between Queensland and New South Wales, but now features teams from each Australian state and mainland territory. Since 2017, the division 2 competition has been replaced by the Under 18 Academy Series, with teams from the 4 Queensland and NSW AFL clubs' academies in addition to Northern Territory and Tasmania state teams. The best players from the academy competition then combine to form an 'Allies' team in conjunction with South Australia, Western Australia and two Victoria teams, Metro and Country to contest the division 1 tournament. The tournament is currently sponsored by the National Australia Bank, having previously been sponsored by Caltex and the Commonwealth Bank. The winner of the 2019 division 1 tournament was Western Australia.

Winners and awards

The Larke Medal is awarded to the best player in Division 1 of the competition. It is named in honour of a junior footballer, Michael Larke, who was killed in a bus crash while attending a trial match for New South Wales. The Hunter Harrison Medal is awarded to the best player in Division 2 and is named in honour of the former president and life member of the Northern Territory Football League, Hunter Harrison, who played a major role in the development of the AFL youth championships.

Past winners