Road safety will come fully into the frame for round seven of the Peel Football Netball League, which will be used to promote the Belt Up initiative across all games.
Belt Up round is run across the entire WA Country Football League, and is used to raise awareness and teach lessons about road safety to players, coaches, officials and fans.
Peel Football Netball League general manager Geoff Hiller said the round was one of the most significant across the league’s season.
“It’s very important. It comes down to doing what we can to reduce the road toll and make sure everyone gets to and from our games safely,” he said.
“Especially in our league, we have some great distances to travel between towns when you range from Waroona in the south to Rockingham and Mundijong more north.
“It’s really important to us to be able to use a round like this to raise awareness on the roads.”
The round will be marked by giving pre-game speeches to players, playing league games with a Belt Up ball, presenting that ball to the best-on-ground and a 30-second silence before each league game as a mark of respect for people who have died on country roads.
But outside of round seven, spectators will most likely have spotted the Belt Up paraphernalia at some point across the season.
The PFNL promotes the message year-round.
“Almost everyone would have been touched by a tragedy on the roads at some point in their lives, so it’s important we make sure we keep spreading the word,” Hiller said.
“It’s a huge thing for us. Along with our men’s well-being round it’s probably one of the biggest weekends of the season for us.”
Mandurah, Baldivis, Centrals and South Mandurah will host games across Belt Up round.
For more information on the Belt Up initiative, visit icwa.wa.gov.au