CRONULLA-Sutherland junior rugby league season starts on Sunday, April 12.
Sharks junior league secretary Judd O'Shea said there will be an under-19s competition this season.
"There will definitely be a competition," O'Shea said.
"We expect five or six teams under our banner.
"In this age group across junior league in NSW there tends to be drop-off rate in playing numbers for a variety of reasons.
"The fact that young men of this age have finished school and are starting out in the workforce, and going to TAFE and university, it can be hard to maintain numbers.
"It's great to see we have a competition in this age group.
"We are working hard like all junior leagues to maintain a competition for the under-19s every year."
O'Shea said Cronulla was one of the few under-19s competitions to have a stand-alone competition.
"Many other junior leagues play in combined competitions with other districts in the under-19s age group," O'Shea said.
In other developments for the Sharks junior league, the under-15s and under-17s first division competitions will play in a combined Cronulla and Illawarra competition.
"This enables two strong competitions for the clubs to play in," O'Shea said.
The junior league had considered a season kick-off before Easter but then administration decided against it.
"The school holidays start on April 3 so we thought it was best to kick off the weekend after Easter," O'Shea said.
Tell us about your club in this year's Cronulla junior rugby league competition?
