Field fun for league juniors

Sports fields and courts have been busy as winter sports are in full swing.

Hibiscus Coast Raiders recently hosted a round that saw six of its 10 junior teams play at home.

Raiders chair, Seth Gleeson, says the day was pretty even when it came to wins and losses for the junior players and as always, there was good support from the sidelines.

He says the tricky part is getting players to transition from age 13, as league loses players to rugby at that age, in part because of the relative size of the opposition.

He says the club is working on introducing some weight restricted grade league in an attempt to retain more players.

For the juniors – the youngest players aged under eight years – it is all about having fun, as demonstrated at those home games on Saturday, May 27.

This year there are three girls’ junior teams that include players from Northland – U14, U16 and U18. This builds on last year’s successful U14 team, which won their final.

“Next year we may be able to bring some Northland boys teams down as well,” Seth says.