Junior sporting fields will return to life next month after children's community sport was given the green light to return from July 1.
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The NSW Government announced on Tuesday the return of under 18 sport from the coronavirus-enforced shutdown.
The announcement was welcomed with open arms by Riverina sporting organisations, with the winter codes now into their third month of lockout.
AFL Southern NSW regional manager Marc Geppert said it was the news that communities across the region had been waiting for.
"It's fantastic for sport in general and the community," Geppert said.
"It's obviously another positive step in our framework in returning to play and the seniors will hopefully follow suit shortly."
Consultation will now begin with clubs but a season start is expected to be worked around the end of the July school holdays.
"Now that that date has been released today, we'll go back and consult with our clubs," he said.
"There's also the timing of the school holidays that we need to take into account."
Football Wagga president Tony Dobbin welcomed news of junior sport restrictions easing on July 1, but said they would look further into what's required before settling on a restart date.
Football Wagga is aiming for July 18 as the start date for its senior competitions, and 1500 of their approximately 3000 players are school-aged.
"Kids sport, no matter what it is, is important for them. Most people now realise sport is a great way of socialising, but it provides structure and you get out of the house," Dobbin said.
"The last couple of months have highlighted just how important it is.
"We've always anticipated somewhere in July we'd kick everything off. July 1 is probably earlier than I anticipated, so we'll look through it all and assess from there."
Group Nine Junior Rugby League have always planned on returning to training on July 1, before kicking off a non-competitive 12-week season on July 18.
Group Nine Junior Rugby League president Bernie Delaney said they will now await further information from NSW Rugby League.
"There's still a few hoops to jump through, but as far as being given the go ahead, that's great news," Delaney said.
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