June 4, 2023
A few showers couldn’t wash away the enthusiasm of the 500 or so young MiniRoos who turned up on Sunday in Nanango to put their soccer skills to the test.
The inaugural MiniRoos carnival, hosted by the Nanango Panthers soccer club, attracted teams from across the South Burnett as well as Gympie, Chinchilla, Dalby, Nambour, Brisbane and the Toowoomba region.
A look at the the number of vehicles in the Burnett Street car park, as well as outside the grounds and in surrounding side streets, quickly proved that most of those young players also brought along proud relatives and friends to watch the action.
While the adults sheltered under marquees or umbrellas on the sidelines, the youngsters seemed to be relishing playing in the rain.
Panthers secretary Katie Mangan said more than 55 teams had turned up for the carnival, so she estimated there were a couple of thousand people around the grounds.
She admitted she was disappointed with the weather after Saturday had been such a beautiful day, but said the rain had not really affected the event.
Katie was busy in the office keeping track of timekeeping the games across the various fields.
Also being kept very busy were the club volunteers at the barbecue and the canteen, who were serving long lines of people.
Because of the age groups involved, ie. Under 6/7s through to Under 10/11s, there were no finals played but at the end of the day, every player was presented with a participation medal as a “thank you” for coming along to the carnival.
Katie said she would like to especially thank Heritage Bank Nanango which had sponsored the huge day.
