Live stream: Ballarat to fire at Country Leagues Football Association championships

They won two titles in Geelong last year, but with the country championships on home soil, Ballarat won’t be happy with just two. Find out how to watch the tournament LIVE over the long weekend.

Ballarat has a point to prove as it prepares to host the Country Championships this long weekend.

It wants to become the best country Victorian region in football.

The region will host the Country League Football Associations championships for the first time since 2014, looking to improve on last year’s success in Geelong, when the region won two age groups.

You can watch Ballarat and other regions compete against each other from Saturday-Monday in our live and exclusive stream of the event on Kommunity TV.

WATCH THE COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS LIVE FROM SATURDAY

Ballarat last year won the under-13 and under-14 title, with both teams now looking to win back-to-back titles after making the move up the age grades.

“Half of the team is coming back this year,” under-15 coach Duncan Smith said.

“And half of the new boys want to get a medal.”

Smith said the team was every chance to go back-to-back.

And it was important the under-15 team won not only doing it for themselves, but for the Ballarat region.

Ballarat players Liam Galvin (back left), Kira Barbary, Daniel Hannessey (front left) and Harry O'Connor. Picture: Shane Jones.

“Ballarat for a long time has not won too much,” Smith said.

“Here in Ballarat, in front of our home crowd, on pitches that most of the players have played on, we want to put on a good show. (We want) to show Ballarat, not just the football community, but the community in general, that this is a sport their kids can play and we do well at.

“We want to be a powerhouse in the country Victoria regions and we are looking to win each and every division. That’s what we are out to do.”

Ballarat will have to deal with the might of Geelong, Albury-Wodonga and Sunraysia who won most of the titles last year.

Under-14 team manager Ellen Fitzgerald said her team is also primed to go back-to-back but must do it without half of the players from last year.

The other Ballarat chances come in the boys age groups of under-12, under-13 and under-18.

“100 per cent we can match it (with other regions),” under-18 manager Rob Walsh said.

“We’ve got a team who can go all the way and we’ve got a lot of composed kids who have come together really well in the short time we’ve had.

“They’ve got a lot of confidence as well.”

In under-13, coach Jock Charles, says his squad is capable of going one better after finishing as runners-up in Geelong last year.

The Ballarat players Joaquin Flores (back left), Will Adams, Elizabeth Boyd (front left) and Robbie Charles. Picture: Shane Jones.

“I’ve got a pretty even squad, so there is no one person who stands out,” he said.

“We’re hoping to go deep. There’s a bit of pressure but we’ll be at the pointy end for sure.”

“We’ve improved our professionalism, improving our skills and our first touch and everything.

“We’ve added a bit of depth to the squad, as well, so we hope to give it a shake.”

In under-12, the team is hoping to not be intimidated by finals and the bigger games in the tournament.

Ballarat coach Justin Whitcher said the team has spent the past six months looking at trying to get ready for the pressure to come.

“The boys have prepared well, we had a few practice matches leading in,” he said.

“Last year they showed a lot of promise but probably got overwhelmed with the look of finals.

“We went really well out of the gates and then finals looked at us and we choked. under-11 moving up to under-12.”

Whitcher said the team was stronger than last year.

“We’ve had a lot of our higher end players move up and we’ve been able to replace them with quality players,” he said.

“There’s a couple of boys in high school now, so we have a bit more maturity (as well).

“Hopefully they at least make finals and go game by game from there.”

Whitcher said one player to look out for is Liam O’Keeffe who has scored 28 goals in eight matches for Ballarat Red in the under-12 local competition.