Participants in both junior and senior rugby league in the Canberra region will gain some significant benefits this season and beyond, as part of a new strategy to better integrate rugby league at the elite and grass roots level.
The Canberra Raiders and Canberra Region Rugby League have developed a number of new benefits as part of a long term strategy to make rugby league the most affordable and attractive option for participants in the Canberra region.
Beginning this year every participant in the junior and senior rugby league competitions in the ACT who register before April 1, will receive a four game membership to Canberra Raiders home matches, which entitles them to attend four matches of the Canberra Raiders 2016 season.
This is an added extra for junior participants who already receive one ticket per week to the match of their choice through the Play NRL rewards program.
So far this year there have been over 2500 registrations for rugby league in the region, with the target of 5000 participants across the game in the local region in 2016.
The Canberra Raiders NRL squad will also look to give more back to grass roots rugby league in 2016, with every member of the squad allocated to one of the regions 15 junior clubs.
These clubs can access their players during the season for things like registration days, training sessions or end of year presentations, with the closer alignment allowing the NRL squad to put back into the sport at a junior level.
The CRRL has also made a commitment of $30,000 to the improvement of club equipment for junior clubs, to help them continue to provide professional and top class training environments.
General Manager of Canberra Region & Community Rugby League Mark Vergano said today’s announcement was part of a whole of game approach to rugby league in the region and said it was about enhancing relationships at all levels to create better community engagement.
“We want rugby league in the Canberra Region to be known as the most inclusive and best value for money option of all sporting codes,” Vergano said. “Today’s announcement is just the first in a long term strategy to achieve these goals and we are working on a project for 2017 to make rugby league even more affordable.
“Female participation is another part of our strategy and we’re confident we will see an increase in the number of females playing both rugby league and league tag this season and into the future. We want rugby league to be seen as a leader in bringing the community together.”
“Today’s announcement is a small component of a ‘game-wide’ Community strategy being implemented across the region by Canberra District Rugby League and Raiders, with Commercial Partnerships and Game Day involvements also being amplified in the upcoming season across the Capital Region.”
CLICK HERE to watch Vergano speak with the media about the announcement.
