When Archie and Finn Siemer finish their schoolwork on Friday, there's usually one thing on their mind: jumping in the car and driving to their weekend football game.

But unlike a lot of other children aged eight and 10, the journey to and from their local oval is a 530-kilometre round trip.

The brothers live on Coally Station, 265km north of Broken Hill in Far West NSW, and attend classes through the School of the Air.

Travelling huge distances for sporting commitments is a common story for country kids throughout regional and remote Australia, made possible through the sacrifice of their parents.

But with sport so beneficial to children's development, in addition to simply giving them joy, it's a small price to pay for parents like Tennille and Sam Siemer.

For the past eight years, the couple has been taking it in turns to make the three-hour trip each week, with one parent remaining behind to look after the property.

"It's been another expense in our family we do [have to] consider … we do have a house in town because it is our regional centre, but … fuel is an ongoing cost," Mrs Siemer said. 

"It is also quite a commitment time-wise and a bit of a juggle because it's often only one parent that can take them, [but] we think the pros outweigh the cons."

Footy a family affair

Growing up on stations themselves, Mr and Mrs Siemer were complete strangers to team sports until they moved to boarding school, where it didn't take long for both to get hooked. 

But after starting a family and having kids, it took a few years for the couple's eldest son, Jack, to convince them to drive him to Broken Hill to play Auskick.

"[The boys] made friends very quickly [and] they counted down the days until Friday when they could play Auskick," Mrs Siemer said.

"One of my boys is not keen on school, and so we would literally use football as a carrot."

Supporting sporting dreams

The Siemers are not the only family in far west NSW used to travelling long distances for kids' sport.

Broken Hill's gymnastics, basketball and swim clubs, which have parents that volunteer as chaperones, regularly travel hundreds of kilometres, including interstate, to compete in regional competitions.

Until recently, 10-year-old aspiring professional cricketer Jetta Hall travelled over three hours each weekend to Mildura in regional Victoria to play in its junior cricket competition, which does not currently exist in Broken Hill.

"Obviously, as a parent, you think he's the best and you want him to go as far as possible, but you don't know unless you give him a go," Jetta's father Sheldon Hall said.

"When [you've] got a really good family network, it just makes it easy. You don't think about it as a six-hour round trip at the time."

Long-term sustainability a challenge

According to an ABC report from last month, community sporting clubs are on the brink of collapse around Australia as economic conditions worsen for parents, volunteers and the organisations themselves. 

With another local football season on the horizon, Mrs Siemer is uncertain how cost-of-living pressures will impact her ability to do the 530km round trip each week.

But after seeing notable improvements in her sons' social and emotional development through playing football, she hopes to make the trip as frequently as possible.

"We have made lots of friends, people we didn't know before — a lot of them [are] in Sam and my [age group] as well," she said.