Thousands of players will flock to the sporting fields for start of winter season

PLAYERS young and old will flock to netball courts and football fields with the winter sport season.  

PLAYERS young and old will flock to netball courts and football fields with the winter sport season.

The Penrith District Netball Association and Nepean District Soccer Football Association competitions begin this weekend.

Netball will start with the annual march past at 8.15am at Jamison Park before matches get under way.

Penrith District Netball Association president Joy Gillett said she was looking forward to the season.

"The committee has been working on the season since January, so we cannot wait for it to begin," Gillett said.

"We have very similar numbers to last year, just under 4000, and actually this year welcome some teams from Mt Druitt for the first time.

"We have refilled 20 netball courts which are also relined and ready to go."

Nepean District Soccer Football Association operations manager Linda Cerone said there was a shift in who was playing football.

"As our player and team numbers are concerned, we're seeing a shift in who's playing sport at the moment, with our junior numbers dropping slightly, our teenage groups remaining reasonably stable and our adult participation numbers increasing," Cerone said.

"We've said farewell to one of our member clubs at the end of 2012 with the folding of Western Storm SC, but welcome our newest club St Paul's Grammar School, who will field teams from Under-5s to 12s.

"Our registrations to date look reasonably healthy, and will remain open to increases until mid-June."

The Penrith and District Junior Rugby League season will begin next weekend.

FOOTBALL TEAM STATS

* Statistics released by the NDSFA this week show a drop in overall teams from 2012:

* Small sided football: 316 teams, down from 333

* Under-8s to under-11s: 254 teams, down from 258

* Under-12s to under-16s: 180 teams, down from 184

* Adults: 238 teams, up from 230

The total number of registered players is 10,926