NFL 2019: Hurstbridge offering incentives in effort to return to under-19 ranks

Hurstbridge is “pulling out all the stops” to field an under-19 team this year, offering incentives to players as it looks to bolster its ranks.

Hurstbridge‘s under-19 squad hits the track for pre-season training.

Hurstbridge is “pulling out all the stops” to field an under-19 team this year, offering incentives to players as it looks to bolster its ranks.

The Bridges have not entered an under-19 side since 2016 in the Northern Football League, when they finished sixth in Division 2.

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The club has waived registration fees for 2019 and will give $100 to those who play 1-9 games and $200 to anyone who features in 10 matches or more.

Coach Kevin Lewis said Hurstbridge needed about 10 more players to guarantee it would field a team.

“That’s been the struggle the last few years, to get a team up,” Lewis said.

“We have got about 14-15 on the track at the moment so we need to get, ideally, another 10 players.

“There’s always young blokes that are injured, on school camp, working or playing seniors, hopefully. From my experience 25-26 is a good number.”

Hurstbridge hopes to field an under-19 team to ensure a successful senior future.

Lewis said restoring the club’s under-19 team would be an important step for Hurstbridge’s future.

“The choices the young fellas have now are enormous, so we thought we had to something as a club,” he said.

“We are pulling out all stops to make sure we can provide a game of football and hopefully some of these young blokes would turn into senior footballers.”

The Bridges are likely to play in Division 2, should they achieve the required player numbers.

“I think there’s only about 3500 people in the town, so to get 20 of the 17,18 or 19 year olds that want to play footy, it can be a bit of a drain at times,” Lewis said.

“It’s the junior and senior club as a whole that have got behind the young blokes so hopefully we can drag a few more in.”

The team trains on Monday and Thursday nights from 6pm.

Details: Kevin on 0432 747 121

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