Footy players set for big season

CENTRE: Callan Naughton, Kyle Jaques and Darcy Brennan sign up with Coolum Colts coach David Quittenden.

AH, the smell of the liniment in the air can only mean one thing: footy season.

Coolum hosts rugby league, AFL and soccer and, perhaps because of TV’s endless summer of predictable cricket, all codes reported an enthusiastic response to recent sign-on days.

Coolum Colts Rugby League Club president Ken Snow said last Saturday’s sign-on day was the best he could remember.

The club expected to field teams from under-7 to under-18 as well as the all-conquering C grade team.

Mr Snow said that thanks to the efforts of last year’s committee, the club had turned the corner financially after a couple of difficult seasons.

He said the club’s long-term sponsors had been very supportive and with the Coolum Beach Bowls Club coming on board, this season would be very exciting.

The Colts will conduct a second sign-on day on Saturday from 10am to 2.30pm at the Coolum Sports Complex.

Coolum Soccer Club president Justin Gerbic said this season’s sign-on numbers were very impressive.

“There are lots of kids who are re-signing – new kids who are joining us now are a bonus. It’s been really good,” he said.

Facilities at the club were recently improved, with better lighting installed and the field resurfaced.

The Coolum Breakers Junior AFL Club, formed in 2005, is the new footy kid on the block but seems to get stronger each year.

President Ian O’Dwyer said interest in AFL was growing because of the success of the Brisbane Lions and the work done by AFL Queensland, which had “created not just a sport but also a family environment”.

The club, which last year struck a deal to use the Coolum High School as its home ground, will field teams in under-8 to under-14 divisions.