Junior winter sporting codes across Cootamundra are closely monitoring Covid-19 restrictions to get kids back on the paddock and back to doing what they love.
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All four football codes (league, union, Auskick and soccer) have indicated a recommencement of some form in the coming weeks.
Junior league and junior rugby union players have started training again with strict protocols in place to help protect young people and the adults needed to run training sessions from any spread of illness.
Cootamundra Junior Rugby League Club president Luke Dabin said a tentative start date for the season has been put forward for July 18, with full-contact training hopefully allowed from July 1.
This is however subject to change as restrictions by the government are increased or lifted, Dabin stressed.
He said it is the intention of the Cootamundra club to be involved in whatever form of competition Group Nine is able to offer.
"We want to be part of it however it looks; our kids are keen to play so we are working out what needs to be done and putting out a plea for extra parent help to ensure we can meet all of the restrictions," Dabin said.
While the exact rules are not yet clear on what can and can not be done throughout the season, spectators and players may be asked to sign in and sign out of playing fields, the canteen will almost certainly have to be set up differently and the time-honoured tradition of shaking hands after a game looks likely to fall victim to the restrictions.
The Cootamundra Junior Rugby Bears have also been back training this month with non-contact rules and social distancing measures for non-participants in place.
Southern Inland Rugby Union has proposed a return date for junior rugby of July 26, to be confirmed by the SIRU Board and competing clubs.
The South West Slopes Soccer Association has cancelled this year's junior season, however the Cootamundra Junior Soccer Club will go it alone with an in-town competition giving young players a chance to get on the paddock.
Cootamundra teams will play against other Cootamundra teams in a revised format of the game that allows them to comply with government requirements relating to Covid-19 protocols.
Meanwhile, the Cootamundra Blues NAB AFL Auskick season will start on Friday, July 24, running throughout term three of the school year for the town's young Aussie Rules enthusiasts.
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