The region's best junior soccer players are lacing up the boots again as they prepare for the resumption of the inaugural Northern League One season.
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The competition was two rounds in when the coronavirus pandemic put a stop to everything.
Ahead of a slated July 11 recommencement, the Northern Inland squads will resume training on Tuesday night.
When they do hit the pitch again they will be looking to build on a strong start.
Between them the four sides won seven of their eight games NIF technical director Howard Stubbs said.
"We were very, very happy with that. The teams performed really well across all the age groups from 13s through to 16s," Stubbs said.
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Pitting them against teams from around the Newcastle area, he said it is a big step up for the players, but one as a zone they "have to" take.
"There's no point in these boys and girls, if they've got any aspirations of playing at a really decent level, staying and playing football in Tamworth," he said.
"If you look at the nature of any sport most sports people have to move away from home at some point and take that next little step."
He noted that a lot of the clubs they play against have "got people there watching people play already".
Requiring them to travel down to Newcastle every second weekend, Stubbs said it has been a massive undertaking, and will be even more so post-COVID.
"We had transport organised - a coach for all the players to travel down on. Obviously now with the restrictions that's not doable," he said.
"So basically we're relying on parents now to transport them to Newcastle every two weeks."
"(But) They've all come back really positive about that as well so we're looking forward to getting back on the pitch and playing."
The zone's other high performance programs - Skill Acquisition Program (SAP) and kick-start - are also resuming this week.
