Soccer season prepares to kick off for 2024

With the cooler months looming, soccer players in and around Forbes are dusting off their boots for another season of soccer. This year, it is even easier for soccer players to register for another season, with the Forbes and District Soccer Club lowering their registration fees. Forbes and District Soccer Club's Doug Mckenzie said they have cut their registration fees by 50-70 percent in the hopes of encouraging more players to play soccer this year. Mr Mckenzie said they have basically passed on the registration fees of Football NSW and Football Australia at cost to players. This would bring costs down to $50 for the under 4 to under 5 age groups, down from $95. Last year the under 6 to under 9 would have paid $120, this year they pay $50 to register. Under 12 to under 17 would have paid $145 to $165 to register last year, while this year they will pay between $60 to $80 to register. Adult players payed $235 to register last year, and this year their registration fees to play will cost $165. Mr Mckenzie said a major reason the club lowered their fees was because cost of living had gone up. This year, the Forbes and District Soccer Club has also introduced a seven a side program every Saturday morning for players aged between Under 13 to Under 15s. Mr Mckenzie said this is aimed at kids who don't want to travel but still want to play on a bigger field with bigger goals can. The regular soccer season is set to begin on Saturday, May 4. Forbes and District Soccer Club will be hosting face-to-face registrations at Bernardi's Marketplace every Saturday in March.\ Mr Mckenzie said parents can still use their kids Active Vouchers for registration costs as well. There are a number of events and gala days planned for the upcoming season. Mr Mckenzie said they have started an Academy Program for their under 10s to under 16s players in both girls and boys categories. The Forbes Academy program also includes some players form Forbes, Parkes, Cowra and Young Among the first events they will take part in will be the Parkes sixes competition on March 16. On March 23 and 24 the Forbes Academy teams will travel to Goulburn to compete in the Merino Cup. On Saturday, April 20, Mr Mckenzie said they will be sending teams to compete in the Wagga Gala Day. A big one for the town, Mr Mckenzie said is the Forbes Gala Day, which has been renamed to the Evolution Mining Youth Gala Day, which will take place at the Botanical Gardens on Sunday, June 30. Currently they have 80 teams who have registered their interest to play at the Evolution Mining Youth Gala Day. During this gala day there will be staff from Western Sydney Wanderers on hand. Mr Mckenzie said they would provide coaching and community activities for the teams on the Saturday night and the Sunday. From June 8 to June 10 the Forbes Academy under 12 girls squad will be competing in the NSW Country Cup hosted at Bathurst. This squad will also be competing in the Champion of Champions Cup which starts on September 15. In this Cup, they could come up against any community Club in NSW. On August 11, Forbes and District Soccer Club will be sending teams to a gala day in Griffith. On October 5 and 6, Forbes will host the Western Sydney Wanderers Girls Champions Cup. The cup is open to girls teams from Under 10s, Under 12s, Under 14's and Under 17s Mr Mckenzie said this Cup celebrates the connection between the Western Sydney Wanderers and regional communities. Mr Mckenzie said they have gotten interest from Wagga, Goulburn, and Canberra Croatia FC.