Amidst a weekend marked with a break for the SunCable BRFL senior divisions, the Katherine region witnessed an exciting resurgence in grassroots football.
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For the first time since 2021, Under 12's footy returned with Eastside fielding two mixed sides, whilst both the Garrak Bombers and Katherine Camels named a team each.
In a promising future for local football, development of an under 16's competition, dormant since 2017, are now in full swing.
Sunday saw Eastside and the Garrak Bombers field a side in the boys' division, while a parallel under 16's girls' competition saw the Garrak Bombers and Eastside clash.
The reintroduction of junior divisions promises to cultivate a new generation of skilled players within the local competition.
As the Katherine region embraces this resurgence in junior football, it heralds a new era of sporting excellence and community engagement, offering youth across the area a platform to thrive and excel in the sport they love.
The Youth Development Manager for the Katherine region, Donna Capes spoke about the benefit junior footy has had on the community.
"There is a real energy for the development for junior football in Katherine, and the support for the competition from local clubs, players, and their families were awesome this weekend," Ms Capes said.
"Making the transition from school-based to a club-based competition is an important step forward for Junior AFL in the Big Rivers region, and the current season has been enthusiastically embraced by our keen youngsters, including three players from Minyerri, who travelled 240 kilometres just to get a game," she said.
"While having fun and playing footy is the objective of the competition, it also helps local and remote players gain experience in a more structured football competition and provides pathways for the identification and development of talented players in the Big Rivers Region.
"For players under 15, this will include the chance of selection for a Katherine team to play in a regional Hawthorn NGA (Next Generation Academy) Carnival, with players coming from across the Big Rivers region.
"While the current season is only a short one, we will be running a full eight-week Junior competition later in the year and we are hoping it will just get bigger and better, with remote teams joining the comp."
