Saints seeking footy juniors

WITH the football season set to start soon, members of the Carngham Linton Football Netball Club are looking to fill their junior teams.

Junior football director Nicole Allen-Green has put the call out to help fill the under 12, 15 and 18 squads.

She said player recruitment becoming urgent, especially for the older teams.

“For the 15s and 18s we really need players,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of players go up to the reserves and seniors from the 18s.

“I think the under 15s and under 18s are a very hard age to get kids wanting to do sport instead of just hanging out with mates or playing videogames.

“It’s important for them to do team sports because they build their social, team and guidance skills which helps later on with employment and learning how to cooperate with others.”

Allen-Green said although the under 12s are fairly-well filled, she’d like to see about 15 additional players each for the older age brackets.

Training has kicked off for the under 18s and 15s with under 12s getting underway on Thursday, 16 March.

Each team will have their own head coach and two assistant coaches, expanding on previous years where each team would have one head coach and one assistant.

Allen-Green said their junior players are an important bridge for the club’s older teams and are a key part of their family atmosphere.

“They’re what keeps us going,” she said. “They’re the next generation. They get involved and the parents are then there volunteering throughout their children’s years.

“The seniors will be coming in to help with training as well because we’re really trying to involve those ages together this year.

“We’ve got a buddy day planned for the juniors and under 12s and we’re going to be getting them more involved with the junior teams as well. It’s about implementing that connection.”

For more information, call Allen-Green on 0404 588 061.