Oar Wins NAB Young Footballer of the Year Award
Brisbane Roar excitement machine Tommy Oar capped off a stellar season by winning the 2009/10 NAB Young Footballer of the Year Award.
Tommy, 18, was presented with the honour and inaugural trophy by NAB at the Hyundai A-League Awards ceremony in Sydney last night.
In addition to the bragging rights of being labelled the best young Australian talent under the age of 21, Oar was presented with a $10,000 personal investment portfolio courtesy of National Australia Bank.
Recruited to the Roar from Palm Beach Soccer Club on the Gold Coast, Oar triumphed over five outstanding rivals, each nominated monthly throughout the Hyundai A-League season. They included Kofi Danning (Sydney FC), Leigh Broxham (Melbourne Victory), Rostyn Griffiths (Nth Qld Fury), Ben Kantarovski (Newcastle Jets) and Mathew Leckie (Adelaide United).
“I-m absolutely rapt to win this prestigious NAB award in its inaugural year,” said Tommy Oar.
“This is totally unexpected, my aim at the start of the season was to break into the starting XI, work hard and go out on the field and express myself and I-m delighted to get recognition for that.”
Voted by a panel of experts, including Qantas Young Socceroos Head Coach Jan Versleijen, Qantas Socceroos Coach Pim Verbeek and Assistant Coach Graham Arnold, the judges met monthly throughout season (and at years end) to adjudicate on the best performed U21 players in the competition.
Of the six nominees Tommy Oar was a unanimous choice with the judging panel.
Joseph Healy, NAB Group Executive, Business Banking said NAB is delighted to be building upon its FFA partnership with the NAB Young Footballer of the Year while at the same time offering assistance to the game at a grassroots level.
“We congratulate Tommy on this outstanding achievement and look forward to watching his development in the years to come,” said Mr Healy.
“NAB is pleased to be assisting with the identification of the next generation of Australian Football stars. We are proud to support this initiative and the young players in the competition as they strive to reach their potential.”
At just 18 years of age and still eligible for Under 20 duties with the Young Socceroos, Tommy Oar was an instrumental cog in the Brisbane Roar forward set-up, possessing a lethal left foot, fantastic vision and brilliant ball control.
Consistency of performance was a highlight with Oar playing in 17 fixtures for the Roar. Socceroos Head Coach Pim Verbeek was so impressed with Oar-s A-League season that in December he won selection in the Socceroos Squad for the Asian Cup Qualifier against Kuwait.
Fittingly, an award such as the NAB Young Footballer of the Year, which is designed to unearth the future stars of the game has done just that in its inaugural year.
As part of its commitment to grassroots football and to acknowledge the vital role junior football clubs play in the development of today-s young stars, NAB has also presented the junior clubs of each NAB Young Footballer of the Year nominee with a $3000 equipment pack during the season.
Junior clubs as follows:
Palm Beach Soccer Club (Qld) - Tommy Oar Bulleen Lions Junior Football Club (Vic) - Mathew Leckie Canberra FC (ACT) - Kofi Danning Knox City Soccer Club (Vic) - Leigh Broxham Kingsley Football Club (WA) - Rostyn Griffiths Broadmeadow Magic FC (NSW) - Ben Kantarovski