Four factors seem to underpin why the Penrith Junior Rugby League District has witnessed a boon in participation numbers – over 9,000 which is a new record for the area.
Penrith Junior League General Manager Blake South said in 2023 there were 571 teams registered. That number has now grown to 626 for 2024.
Reasons for the jump in player numbers appear to lie in the continuing upward trend of the female game; some structural changes to local clubs; the acceptance of the NRL’s new Player Development Framework removing grand finals for all ages up to and including Under 12s – where the philosophy is compete at all times, not win at all costs – and the popularity of the Panthers NRL team.
South said there were fears among clubs that the changes to the NSW Government’s criteria for Active Kids Vouchers in 2024 would see numbers drop.
Instead when the Penrith Juniors cracked the 9,000-mark for the first time it showed male registrations up 7.5% and female up 34%.
“It’s been a pretty good year for us, especially with the Active Kid vouchers not available we actually thought there’d be a decline,” South told nswrl.com.au
“Some of the structural changes we’ve put in place I think has helped the growth in certain areas.
“But overall we’re up in every age group, which is good to see.”
The Panthers NRL team winning three Premierships in a row had a flow-on effect for Rugby League.
“I definitely think it’s a contributing factor, but not a significantly large one,” South said.
“When Penrith is winning the community jumps on the back of that. In saying that I think some of the things we can provide for our kids attracts people to us.
“For example with our Under 6s and Under 7s, every kid gets a Panthers jersey and they play at Penrith stadium.
“This year we also moved our 16s competition back to Saturday instead of Sunday morning and we’ve seen massive growth in that age group that we haven’t seen for years,” South said.
“Our female growth I think has come by being able to offer them on-age competitions, so they no longer have to play a year above themselves.
“We’ve still got 10s and 12s but from 13s up they play their own age groups – 14s, 15s, 16s.
“The amount of registrations we’re now getting among these girls is unreal. So we obviously made the right call.”
South said the NRL’s Development Framework changes made nationwide were embraced by junior club officials.
“It’s been such a great effort from all our 23 clubs. They’ve all been really positive around all the changes with the NRL Play the Game rules.
“While they understood the rules were here to stay and couldn’t be changed, they jumped on board and got it done – there was no pushback.
“Our Under-10s competition has grown by 10 teams this year. That says something about the clubs being positive and everyone being in the right frame of mind on the ground, so to speak.”
South said he was proud of all the officials and volunteers at the 23 Penrith Junior clubs.
“Without their positive outlook and hard work, nothing happens. And we know we’ve got some very good people involved but having said that, even we were surprised at the figures.”
