It's tough for kids to get a game

Deanna Corry with her four sons and two nephews who all play for the Yeppoon Seagulls. Front (left to right) Jimmy, Alex and Jake Lawton and (back, left to right) Ziggy Gela, Zac Pacey and Clayton Lawton.

Chris Ison

WITH four boys aged 10 and under, a girl and another on the way, Deanna Corry's home can sometimes be a battleground.

The youngsters are mad about football.

But a heavily pregnant Deanna and her partner, who suffers an illness, are both unable to work and that makes it hard to pay sporting fees and buy equipment like shoes and jerseys for the kids.

As the four boys, who are members of the Seagulls Junior Rugby League team, passed the ball around on the Maurie Webb oval yesterday, they were unaware LNP leader Campbell Newman was checking out their home turf.

Mr Newman was in Yeppoon briefly to announce his party's Get in the Game policy which would support families and clubs by offering grants to help with the cost of sports.

He said if elected, the party would spend $16 million over three years to fund three programs under the initiative.

This included $6 million to provide 40,000 $150 club registration fee vouchers for parents who couldn't afford for their kids to join a sports club.

Grants of up to $10,000 from a pool of $2 million would also be available for equipment and programs for sporting and recreation clubs to develop and expand services, and $8 million in funding for larger, one-off grants of up to $100,000 for clubs to improve infrastructure and facilities.

Mr Newman said a third of Australian kids aged between eight and 14 were not participating in sports because their families couldn't afford the sign-up fees which was a "real issue".

"We know the social and health benefits of children being involved in sport, and a significant part of our plan is to provide better opportunities, especially for those that can't afford it," he said.

GET IN THE GAME

LNP has announced a sports policy:

• Aimed to increase participation in sport
• $16m funding over three years for three programs
• Get Started: 40,000 $150 vouchers for club fees ($6m)
• Get Going: One-off $10,000 grants for clubs ($2m)
• Get Playing: One off $100,000 grants for clubs ($8m)