Netball Wodonga is set to host an inaugural North East Junior Carnival this weekend in an effort to provide more participation opportunities for youngsters.
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A total of 35 teams will converge on Kelly Park on Sunday from Albury, Albury Indoor, Wangaratta, Mitta and Wodonga netball associations, with the carnival catering for under-11s and under-13s.
"The rep teams usually go to a number of tournaments, and this year some of the host associations have dropped under-11s, so they weren't able to enter," Netball Wodonga president Rhonda Lockhart said.
"Albury, Wangaratta and ourselves usually go to those tournaments, so we thought why don't we just do another one for our under-11s and invite other associations as well who maybe aren't desiring to play rep tournaments all the time, but would love the experience and fun of playing lots of netball in one day."
It's also a chance for older juniors to enhance their netball participation skills.
"We'll have a lot of our older rep players umpiring, and some of the others are coaching," Lockhart said.
"A lot of them don't umpire regularly because they're playing all the time.
"This is also a chance for the older kids to give back to the younger kids that might see that they're watching or coaching them, and they might aspire to be like them when they grow up.
"I think kids become better players and more respectful of umpires when they've had a go at umpiring as well."
The carnival will run from 9am to around 1pm on Sunday, with registrations now closed.
It's hoped the round robin will become an annual event shared between the associations.
It will mark the third tournament Netball Wodonga has hosted in the last five weeks, having just recently held the North East Championships, which saw Albury triumphant by one goal against Wodonga in under-15s, with both teams now bound for the state championships.
