Hill Top Soccer Club is wasting no time getting back on the paddock in preparation for 2020 competition.
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Club secretary Craig Napper said that a State Government announcement that sport could re-start on July 1 was welcome news.
However, he said he understood the Highlands Soccer Association competition might not start until July 18. The HSA consists of eight member clubs, and a number of participating private schools.
"This will apply at least to the junior competition due to the school holidays," he said.
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"The senior competition might start earlier, that is yet to be confirmed."
Regardless of the start date the Hill Top players are already working hard to ensure they are in the best form for competition.
Napper said the players had been training, within the restrictions of maximum groups of 10, since the club obtained approval from council.
"I understand we were one of the first sporting clubs in the Highlands to secure approval to head out on to the field for training," he said.
"We went through a process with council providing a detailed risk assessment, but we have been good to go for training for a couple of weeks."
Napper said the club wanted to return to training as soon as possible in an effort to re-establish fitness among the players.
He said that many had put in a big effort training earlier in the year, but had to stop due to the Covid restrictions.
"Our youth grade started in January in the heat. Our senior men started not long after that," he said.
While a halt to the competition has been a disappointment for the Hill Top Club it has been fortunate in other ways.
Napper said the club had managed to maintain all of its sponsorship support and had also secured a $5000 State Government grant for senior fee relief.
"We'd applied for this after the bushfires, but it has proved timely considering the Covid situation," he said.
The funding will pave the way for a significant drop in fees for Hill Top senior players in 2020. It will allow for an additional reduction on top of fee relief provided to all clubs in the HSA.
"The competition season has dropped to about two thirds of what it normally is, so it seems only right that the fees are reduced," Napper said.
"Football NSW have offered a small reduction, but the HSA has been great in also stepping up and assisting with reduced fees for our senior players.
"The grant secured by our club means that Hill Top will have even less to pay."
The 2020 fee for Hill Top seniors has been dropped from $335 to $160.