Sophie Phillips has been selected in the NSW/ACT Under 18 Rams team that will play matches against the Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast Suns Academies in Coffs Harbour this weekend. The team will then face Tasmania in the opening round of the AFL Under 18 Women's Championships.

Five girls, Amelia Anderson, Serena Cooper, Grace Hughes, Lily King and Ruby Sargent-Wilson were selected for the Under 16 Youth Girls Swans team that will play a pair of matches against a Giants squad. The final Rams team will be picked based on those trials.

Cooper said the selection in the Swans team came as a shock, but she's looking forward to pushing for Rams selection.

"It was a huge surprise to be selected," Cooper said. "I didn't realise they were picking a team, but it was a really good feeling to get picked.

"I'm hoping to get into the Rams, it would be amazing. If you look back at all the improvement of the Academy girls, there's definitely a huge chance one or more of us will get into that team."

The Illawarra Academy of Sport girls AFL program was established ahead of the 2018 Academy year. The girls have shown significant improvement since then, as seen by their promising performances at the recent Academy Games.

Cooper, who was named IAS AFL athlete of the year in 2018, said their improvement is testament to the effort of all girls involved and the dedication of the Academy's coaching staff.

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"The Academy has been really helpful, it's been great to see myself and everyone else improve in both skills and teamwork.

"They give us a lot of information and train us really well. They balance out everything an athlete needs, the theory and the physical training.

"You could see at the Academy Games all our effort paid off from the training and everyone had a great time."

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