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Melton A - Urban Junior Champions
The Urban Juniors officially kicked off the 2024 CFA/VFBV State Firefighter Championships over the weekend (16-17 March) with ‘Melton A’ once again taking reign in Mooroopna.
Participants, supporters and the wider community were welcomed to the weekend of competition with an opening parade, remarks from CFA Deputy Chief Officer Kaylene Jones and VFBV State President Samantha Collins, before the event was officially opened by CFA Board Member Dawn Hartog.
The Urban Junior competition started at 9am on Saturday 16 March and concluded in the afternoon of Sunday 17 March, with the ‘Melton A’ team crowned Urban Junior champions for the fourth year in a row, making it their fifth overall win in six years.
Melton A coach Anthony Rhodes said his team members went into the Championships with a desired destiny and were rewarded by their relentless efforts.
“The kids trained hard, they knew what they wanted to do, and they executed it well. They were excited and proud of their achievements,” Anthony said.
“They are highly disciplined and made a strong commitment together from the beginning. We’ve also had just about every parent at training watching them each session. It truly is a team effort.
“We’d been training since August, preparing for the Western Australian Championships back in November. At times, some cold and wet nights challenged them, but they didn’t let it stop them.”
Anthony said the Championships allow him to build dexterity, discipline and respect in his younger members.
“It’s an opportunity to learn how to work as a team and continue to build on the strong history that CFA has. I quite regularly talk about the meaning behind the eight-pointed star.
“We’ve always worked to the belief that we don’t own the jumper; we’re given the jumper to create our own story and that’s what we worked to; the kids created their own story.
“The camaraderie that we get from other teams, especially from the Greater Midlands Fire Brigades Association, is always important to us at the Championships.”
Echuca A took out second place. Team coach Jordan Simpson said the team was consistent across the entire weekend and spirits were high among the members.
“The kids absolutely love it and all the other members love seeing the success,” Jordan said.
“We did a lot of training throughout the year in the lead-up and kept it nice and simple, and it worked out well for us. Melton are always a tough competitor to come up against, so we’re very proud of second place.
“Although we finished second last year, we did miss out on the under 14s by just a few points, so one of our goals this year was to see them get a win and for us to finish top three again.
“The Championships are quite vital for developing Juniors and getting them along, keeping them interested and eventually seeing them become senior CFA members, either as a firefighter or in a support role.”
CFA Deputy Chief Officer Kaylene Jones congratulated all the competitors who participated over the weekend and thanked those who worked hard to get the event up and running.
“It is always fantastic to be in Mooroopna for the Championships, and this year was certainly no different. It was great to see over 240 competitors battle it out on the track,” Kaylene said.
“After an extremely busy month with hundreds of CFA members from across the state being deployed to assist with the recent bushfires, it’s incredible to see how hard everyone has worked to make sure this year’s event is a success.”
Grand Aggregate result
1st place: Melton A - 99 points
2nd place: Echuca A - 43 points
3rd place: Swan Hill A - 38 points
A full list of results can be found on the VFBV website. Members can find out more information on the Urban Senior, Rural Junior and Senior State Firefighter Championships taking place next weekend at www.cfa.vic.gov.au/champs.
Keep up to date with everything that’s happening across the event on our CFA Champs Facebook page.
The 2024 State Firefighter Championships are supported by the Victorian Government.