SANFL Juniors Kicks Off for 2019

By ZAC MILBANK

The largest football competition in Australia is set to soar as the first SANFL Juniors matches are played on April 5 and 7.

SANFL Juniors is continuing its expansion this year, with more than 12,000 children across metropolitan Adelaide to don the boots in 2019.

As many as 647 teams will do battle each weekend (Friday nights and Sundays) from 54 clubs with age groups ranging from Under-7 right through to Under-16.5.

Teams are fielded from as far as Angle Vale in the north to Port Noarlunga in the south, as well as Mount Lofty in the Adelaide Hills.

“It’s fantastic to see our competition continue to offer so many opportunities for its participants and maintain steady growth after a successful 2018 season,” SANFL Juniors Competition Manager Geoff Riddle said.

”This year, we have seen a further increase in participation and expect to have more than 12,000 South Australian kids playing football every weekend. To allow them to chase their dreams for the next five months is amazing for football in this state.

“All of our clubs have been working extremely hard to facilitate such strong growth, particularly in female participation and we’re really proud that SANFL Juniors will be scheduling around 350 games every weekend across metropolitan Adelaide.”

SANFL JUNIORS BY THE NUMBERS

Current Registrations – 11,319
Boys Registered – 9,417
Girls Registered – 1,993 (1796 in 2018)

Total Teams Registered – 647 (638 in 2018)
Total Clubs Registered – 54 (51 in 2018)

BOYS
* Play 15 minor round games
* Finals start August 25
* U12-U14 Grand Finals on September 8
* U15-U16.5 Grand Finals on September 15

GIRLS
* Play 12 minor round games
* Finals start weekend of August 5
* Grand Finals weekend of August 18