On the weekend of March 27 and 28, Goulburn's North Park was filled to the brim with junior rugby league players from across the region.
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Nearly 60 teams swarmed to town for the Goulburn Junior Stockmen's annual Life Members Carnival, which is now in its fifth year.
Age divisions from the Under 6s all the way to the Under 15s played, and Stockmen treasurer Bec Harmer said the event was as popular as she had ever seen it.
"We were at capacity, we honestly couldn't have taken any more teams," Harmer said.
"Especially on Saturday, we could've taken more on Sunday but it would've gone very late.
"It was a great turnout."
The younger age groups got the carnival started on Saturday, which featured the Under 6s through to the Under 10s. The standout from the first day was the Stockmen Under 10s side, which made it to the grand final and secured a draw.
Goulburn's Under 15s and Under 17s Girls got proceedings underway on Sunday with a pair of trial matches, which were followed by competition play.
The strong turnout to the carnival was indicative of the huge number of registrations the Stockmen have had ahead of the 2021 season.
"Our numbers have increased dramatically since COVID," Harmer said.
"We've got more registrations this year than we've ever had. I think it's probably the fact that we managed to play last season, so we managed to keep the interest up.
"I feel like the environment of the junior club is getting better as well, it's got a really good committee, it's inclusive and a lot of families are involved."
The Life Members Carnival acts as a chance for clubs to reconnect socially, as well as being an opportunity for teams in the Under 10s divisions and up to stretch their legs ahead of the start of the season.
"A lot of them use it for trialling, working out teams, those sorts of things," Harmer said.
"It gets the kids on the paddock and it gives us a guide when we're putting teams in divisions. It helps us grade them."
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