Across the weekend, the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility (LMRFF) hosted its biggest day of football since opening with activities including Newcastle Permanent Festival of Football, Telstra Skill Acquisition Program (SAP) Metro Gala Day and AIA Vitality MiniRoos Gala Day.
Saturday’s Newcastle Permanent Festival of Football welcomed players of all ages to participate in activities including skills stations, jumping castle, small sided games on the Newcastle Permanent Inflatable Football Field and face painting. There were also special appearances from Newcastle Jets Hyundai A-League players James Virgili and Scott Neville and Westfield W-League players Libby Copus-Brown and Cassidy Davis.
As part of Grassroots Football Week, a Grassroots Football Certificate and an AIA Vitality MiniRoos Gala were held on the five-a-side pitches on Saturday. 52 coaches were accredited on completion of the Grassroots Football Certificate throughout the week, and the Gala saw 37 AIA Vitality Miniroos squads play out an exciting round robin pre-season competition.
Additionally, Telstra SAP activity was held across the weekend. On Saturday thirteen 11 Years teams including Emerging Jets, Football Mid North Coast, Hunter Valley Football, Macquarie Football and Newcastle Football sides played out 27 fixtures over 648 minutes of match time as part of the Telstra SAP 11 Years Metro Gala Day.
Telstra SAP continued on Sunday with 10 Years and 12 Years regular competition fixtures contested at LMRFF.
It is estimated over 1,500 people participated in the weekend’s exciting activities which highlighted the important role of football in the local community as the commencement of Season 2015 draws closer.
