He knew they would give it their all and strive to achieve the best result, but when the 12–16-year-old Grafton City Juniors were announced as the winners of the 2023 Australian Fire Cadet Championships, Captain of Grafton City RFS Michael Rogan was overwhelmed with happiness and pride.

Demonstrating their well-rehearsed skills in life-like scenarios designed to test their abilities, initiative, and safety procedures, the Grafton City Juniors excelled against 20 other teams from NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Western Australia throughout the championships, held at Douglas Park in the Southern Highlands last month.

Established in 2007 by the RFS, the championships present the firefighters of tomorrow with opportunities to showcase their technical talent, enthusiasm, and leadership.

And Captain Rogan said his team “absolutely smashed it”.

“They did so well,” he recalled.

“There were eight events they competed in which were time based, and they had to avoid getting penalised, and the team with the quickest time were the winners of each event.

“Grafton City Juniors won three events, finished second in another, and earned two third placings.

“They had to rely on a range of different skills they’ve learned including priming a pump to transfer water in the portable pump relay, and they also had to demonstrate their teamwork.

“They put a lot of time into training and practicing ahead of the championships, and it paid dividends.”

Towards the end of the championships, which were run between September 26 and 27, the Grafton City Juniors were thrilled to learn their efforts had earned them a spot on the podium.

But their reaction when they were announced as the overall winners was phenomenal.

“We were just in shock, we couldn’t believe it,” Captain Rogan said.

“In the end, we won by nine points.

“It was a great effort.” With a well-earned scorecard of 21 points, Grafton City Juniors finished first ahead of Llandilo (NSW), who came second on 30 points, and the Lavington Black Ants (NSW), who finished third with 32 points.

Captain Rogan and the Grafton City Juniors team including Chelsea Almond, Bianca Almond, Hayden Almond, Eli Masters, Cooper Gilkinson, and Andrew Hughes, also wished to acknowledge Denise Pavlovic, Tania Preen, and Josh Rogan, for their additional training in preparation for the championships.

Captain Rogan is also encouraging more juniors to become involved with the RFS by contacting their local RFS brigade. 

This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 11 October 2023.