OVER 600 future soccer stars converged on Proctor Park on Friday as part of a Soccer Gala Day featuring students from Catholic Schools across the region.
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A record number of 62 teams entered the competition, which is now in its third year.
The inaugural event, the brainchild of acting principal of the Assumption School, David Maher, was originally planned for 2016, but heavy rains caused it to be washed-out.
Since then, however, the annual event has continued to attract more teams every year, and is showing no signs of slowing in its popularity.
Participants in the event ranged in age from seven to 13, with students travelling from Bathurst, Orange, Blayney, Oberon and Gulgong to be part of the day.
Maher said the idea behind the gala day was the celebration and enjoyment of soccer, and most importantly to get as many students as possible involved.
He said he was stoked with the number of teams who registered, saying it was the biggest number of entrants on record.
"Because there were so many teams, we actually had to change the match times from 25 minutes to 20 minutes to accommodate every game," he said.
After the day concluded, Maher said he couldn't have been happier with the way things went, and is expecting next years to be even bigger.
"The weather was absolutely perfect, and all the teams had a great time.
He said the feedback from parents and students was very positive.
"Today was about having everyone involved, not just the kids who play at a representative level.
"A lot of people said to me it was fantastic that everyone had the opportunity to get in and have a game."
He thanked students from MacKillop and Stannies, for refereeing the games.
