Preparations continue for what shapes as even bigger Junior State Touch southern conference finals in Wagga later this month.
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Wagga Vipers added to their build up with a club day on Sunday.
Meeting for some interclub games and a barbecue at Jubilee, president Darrin Walsh was pleased to have so many kids on deck three weeks out from their biggest event of the year.
"We like to have a club day before Junior State Cup to try and build a club atmosphere, gets all the kids involved and make them feel like they are part of the club," Walsh said.
"We've got approximately 250 kids in teams as when Wagga got it (hosting rights) we started a strategy to have development teams to get them more exposure.
"We've got two tiers in most comps."
They also announced their team captains for the season with Riley Browning and Ella McFarlane selected to lead this year's bigger contingent.
Wagga Junior Touch have also introduced a buddy system which Walsh hopes it can foster stronger relationships across the club as a whole from under 8s through to under 18s.
"This year the older teams are paired up with the younger ones to give them a bit more of chance to be a role model and get looked up to," he said.
"The older ones can give back to the club as well."
Wagga plays host to the second Junior State Touch southern conference final on February 21 to 23.
The decision was made to split into two conferences was a success last season with over 10,000 people heading to Wagga for the event.
The reduced travel and overall costs saw a number of other Riverina associations send teams to compete, who usually wouldn't head up to Port Macquarie.
This time around another 25 teams will take part and Walsh is confident there is plenty of room for the expanded competition.
"On the success of last year's tournament with the facilities and how it was run clubs who weren't sure have seen how good it is and are bringing extras this time," Walsh said.
Wagga took out the under 18s girls final last season but with a number of players moving on the under 14 boys are considered one of Wagga's best chances of success alongside the under 12 girls and under 16 girls.
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