The excitement of the upcoming Rugby League season is beginning to show at grassroots levels with junior club registration numbers more than doubling in just one week, with more than 170,000 young boys and girls expected to sign up across the country in 2014.
Rugby League focuses on a whole-of-game program so the day your child joins a club is the day he/she starts developing skills including try-scoring, evasion, passing and kicking.
The learning scale for Rugby League is broken up into three categories with the two earlier categories, Mini Footy and Mod League, designed around modified rules.
This ensures a fun and safe environment for all ages and children can begin playing competitive Rugby League as young as 6 with the programs catering for both boys and girls.
- Mini Footy (5-8 years) has been developed to meet the needs of younger children and focuses on involvement and encouraging learning skills through play without the pressure of sticking to the traditional rules of the game. The fields are smaller, no contact is permitted above the armpits and games are played over three 10-minute periods.
- Mod League (9-12 years) is played over 20-minutes halves. There is no contact permitted above the armpits and the ball carrier may not be pushed or lifted from the ground to be then driven to the ground when tackled.
The benefits of playing a team sport are enormous, providing children with exercise, lessons in personal values, team-work and relationship building as well as being a positive social outlet for the whole family.
Sport assists in the development of motor skills and assisting with cognitive development, listening skills and taking instructions as well as teaching valuable social skills including co-operation, confidence and respect for others.
For more information on getting your boys and girls involved visit www.playnrl.com sign up with a club and become part of a community today.