LOCAL soccer administrators have applauded the state government’s budget announcement of a sports rebate that will make the game more affordable for Lake Macquarie families.
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Parents of school-aged children will benefit from the ‘Active Kids Rebate’, a new $100 rebate for sporting- and fitness-related costs.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet described the measure as “the soul of the budget”.
The government has set aside $207 million for the new rebate over four years from 2017-2018, for every family with children in school from early next year.
Northern NSW Football CEO David Eland welcomed the measure.
“The health and lifestyle benefits from sport are well known and football’s affordability as a sport is also one of the key factors in its record participation growth,” Eland said.
“Today’s announcement signals the NSW government’s recognition of the importance of sport in healthy communities and provides an opportunity for existing players to do so more cost effectively and to provide even greater appeal for the game to new players wishing to participate from next season.”
The Active Kids Rebate follows on from the recent announcement of the $4 million rollout of defibrillators at sports clubs to address the risk of cardiac arrest whilst attending sporting events.
Mr Eland said it was “yet another major win for the world game” following the overall sport participation figures eclipsing 397,000 including Northern NSW, as the code “continues to dominate as being the No 1 played sport in not only NSW but the country”.
The direct beneficiaries of the newly announced Active Kids Rebate will include the 116,290 ALDI MiniRoos youngsters aged 5 to 11 years and the 74,548 Youth footballers aged 12 to 17 years, he said.