Girl’s Rugby League proved one of the most popular sports for children during the COVID-19 pandemic with the Office of Sport revealing it was among the top 10 sports to redeem Active Kids vouchers in 2020.
Figures showed the uptake of the $100 vouchers had significantly increased for girl’s Rugby League, with the sport moving to sixth overall in 2020, from outside the top 10 in 2019.
The popularity of women’s Rugby League continues to be one of the biggest growth areas of the game which has experienced a 37 per cent increase since 2017 when unbroken pathways were introduced for girls from Under 6s to Open Age, including divisions for Under 14, 16s and 18s.
The pathways include the Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup (which has changed from Under 18s to Under 19s in 2021), Harvey Norman Under 19s NSW Women’s State of Origin team, Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership, NRLW competition and Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Origin team.
The NSWRL is looking forward to conducting a full competition season in 2021 with registrations now open for return to play and the State Government’s Active Kids vouchers on offer again.
While participation figures were down across the board in 2020 due to COVID-19, the enthusiasm of Rugby League participants was still strong with a 33 per cent increase in the total number of Active Kids vouchers being redeemed.
Last season saw 72,380 vouchers redeemed at a value of $6.94 million, a significant increase on 2019 (54,500 vouchers)
