Junior footy is well and truly alive in the Southern Highlands.
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The Southern Highlands Hawks u13s and the Kiama Power Thunder u13s played out a scintillating 3.12.30 - 4.6.30 draw at Welby Oval on Sunday, May 2.
Hawks coach and president Steve Fitzgerald was astounded at the performance put in by the two sides.
"It's as good a game of footy as I have seen at junior level in a long time," Fitzgerald said.
"That was a really tough contest with two really even good sides having a red hot crack."
At the end of the match, Fitzgerald singled out every single player and praised them on a certain aspect of their game.
At a young age, having fun is the most important aspect, but skill development is also key.
"Realistically, we want skill development, but footy for us is fun.
"They have to be enjoying it because if they're not, there's no point playing.
"We also want to see them become better people and playing as part of a team actually helps that.
"You learn to get around and support each other."
At the moment, AFL is down the pecking order compared to other sports in the region, but there are signs of improvement.
"The sport really struggles right now," Fitzgerald said.
"We have a lot of different competitions going on like rugby league, union, soccer and hockey.
"However, the families and kids we get down seem to really engage in the sport.
"I think it's a really great family atmosphere"
Earlier in the day, the Hawks u11s went down to the Kiama Power Thunder u11s by 24 points.
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