The Pine Rivers Swans are helping out their juniors this season and its paying dividends, with the club seeing massive growth in 2014.
In a bid to attract more juniors to sign up to the sport, the Swans are subsidising all junior fees and it is working, with their junior numbers bigger than ever and a 20 per cent boost in their Auskick numbers.
Swans president, Tony Aitkin, said the subsidy was aimed at bringing kids back into sport and it was fantastic to see it working.
“We’re just trying to get kids back into sport regardless of what background they have, we’re just trying to get them involved in some sporting activity,” he said.
“We’ve reinvested in the junior football program via corporate sponsors, so the only fees they have are the league registration and uniforms.
As well as boosting their overall numbers, the Swans value their inclusive program, with two female Auskick coaches and a number of children with disabilities signing up this season.
“Our vice-president, who looks after the Auskick, is really focused on getting all kinds of kids involved and we’re really excited to see any kid being active and enjoying playing footy,” Aitkin said.
Aitkin said all junior clubs faced a challenge in retaining players through to U11 and U12 age groups, but hoped their stronger numbers in the younger age groups would carry on in the long term.
“Those youth age groups, U11 and U12, are doing it fairly hard and that’s one of the challenges we’ll be looking to address in coming years,” he said.
“Auskick is definitely an investment in the future and we’re hoping this growth can carry all the way through.”
For more information on the Swans junior programs, contact Club Manager, Natalie Coulter, on 0488 020 429 or [email protected]
