The Evans Head Bombers juniors are back.
But the club might be forced to wait another week to field their six Junior Rugby League teams for the first time in 15 years, due to the inclement weather pounding the northern NSW coast.
“We are back absolutely,” Evans Head Bombers Junior Rugby League Club President Glenn Deas said.
“The weather might delay our celebrations, but we’ll well and truly be celebrating whenever we can get back on the field.”
Six teams – Under 6s, Under 7s, Under 8s, Under 10s, Under 12s and Under 16s – were due to play their first home games since 2009 this Saturday 6 April. If the rain forces a cancellation, they will play the following weekend (13 April).
The club received 92 registrations, with seven girls among the 22 players in the Under 12s.
“We’re hoping to build on that so we can field a girls Under 13s team next year,” Deas said.
“It’s been a mammoth task by many, many people, to get us off the ground again.
“And we’ve only got a small population of 3,000 at Evans Head but the whole community has got behind us, especially our major sponsor the Woodburn-Evans Head RSL Club.
“I think few people know how much time and effort it takes to start up a Rugby League club in 2024.
“There as so many logistics and costs involved, but it has been well-worth the fight.
“It means so much to so many of us.
“We had to start from scratch and form a committee, most of which like myself, have been players or active members with the senior club.”
Deas was one of the founding members of the Evans Head Bombers seniors 25 years ago.
“We’re competing with a lot of junior sport here and Rugby Union has a strong foothold.
“But now we’ve got Rugby League back on the scene and the only way is up.”
