Stay warm with winter sport

By Gianni Francis

Feb 25, 2022

Badminton: Emily Blake hitting the shuttlecock. Photo by Rodney Braithwaite

The winter sports season is approaching and with it some exciting opportunities for kids at Shepparton Sports Stadium.

STORY: GIANNI FRANCIS

Badminton

A winter exclusive for kids is the junior badminton program, which runs on Fridays from 4pm during terms two and three. This fast-paced and exciting sport has multiple divisions for primary and secondary school ages.

Parents can get involved too, because the Shepparton Badminton Association caters to all age groups and levels of expertise with a ‘grade’ for everyone!

Basketball

This international team sport runs all year round at the Shepparton Sports Stadium, thanks to the Greater Shepparton Basketball Association, which has a long and proud history in providing domestic basketball competitions to our local community.

Junior basketball: Under-10s play at Shepparton Sports Stadium. Photo by Julie Mercer

GSBA offers junior basketball from under-10s through to under-18s for boys and girls, with games played from Monday to Friday.

Shepparton Sports Stadium also hosts Aussie Hoops, a Basketball Australia introductory program that provides a fun and inclusive basketball experience for five- to 10-year-olds. Aussie Hoops runs on Thursdays at 4pm during school terms.

Netball

Who could forget this iconic Australian sport? At Shepparton Sports Stadium kids can participate in the Aussie Net and junior stadium netball programs.

Aussie Net is a netball coaching and development program for five- to seven-year-olds, introducing the basics of netball, and runs on Fridays from 4pm during school terms.

And kids can learn as they play with the junior stadium netball program, that helps five- to nine-year-olds develop their netball skills through playing games with the support of teaching umpires. It runs on Fridays from 4pm during school terms.

Shepparton Sports Stadium has also established an exciting women’s social competition for a range of ages and abilities, focused on enjoyment and teamwork.

Skill Zone Holiday Program

Kids can make new friends and stay active during the school holidays with Skill Zone.

Shepparton Sports Stadium facility coordinator Kyleigh Devine said the program usually runs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of each school holiday.

Having a ball: Matthew Reynolds, Ella Hampshire and Benjamin Ratcliff prepare for the beginning of exciting new junior programs at Shepparton Sports Stadium.

The program is a safe, inclusive and supportive environment that provides an opportunity for kids to get active and make new friends.

A big part of the program is bringing the community together and improving the health of its members.

“It’s multi-sport, they just do a bit of everything,” Kyleigh said.

“They go home exhausted, have a ball and they’ve been getting really good numbers.”

Skill Zone usually has about 45 to 50 kids attending the program, and coming out of COVID-19 restrictions, organisers are anticipating a big influx of kids joining in the fun.

“There's a lot of parents out there that need something for the kids to do during the holidays,” Kyleigh said.