In an effort to support families who want their children to participate in sport, Belmont Lions Sports Club is offering free registration to juniors for the 2023 season.
Lions junior coordinator Katrina Domonkos said getting more kids back into sport was good for the kids, their families and the sports club.
“It’s all about bringing more people from the community in and getting more kids involved,” Ms Domonkos said.
“We know the price of living has gone up, and everyone has found it hard. Some people can’t put their kids in sport because of that; membership fees are high and there are more important things to pay for.
“And for the club, when COVID hit we lost a lot of players of all ages, like a lot of clubs did. So we really want to get people to come back and play.
“We’ll have junior football, like the last couple of years, but we want to add a junior netball team as well.”
Belmont Lions vice president Tyrrell Hill said junior participation had been a big focus at the club since the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
“We’ve doubled our Auskick participation in the last two years, from low 20s up to 50,” Mr Hill said.
“And the feedback and response has been fantastic. We just love to see the kids and the parents involved, it just lights up the whole organisation.
“It’s been a tough few years for people, and it’s been tough for us as well, but we really want to make sure people play the game.
“It’s going to cost us a lot of money to do that, but we think it’s going to be positive in the long run.”