Wagga Wagga Set for Statewide Sporting Tournament
(1:00pm - Friday 21st April 2023)
Some of the state’s finest young athletes will arrive in the Wagga Wagga Region from Friday, 21st April for the 2023 Your Local Club Academy Games.
Hosted by the Southern Sports Academy (SSA), the event will be held across various venues throughout the Wagga Wagga region from Friday, April 21st to Sunday, April 23rd. The event will run for the second of three years in Wagga Wagga, previously hosted by the Hunter Academy of Sport (HAS) in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
The Games will be bringing together athletes, staff, families and supporters from all 11 Regional Academies of Sport Incorporated (RASi) across New South Wales. The competing Academies include Central Coast, Far West, Illawarra, Hunter, North Coast, Northern Inland, South East, South West Sydney, Southern, Western Region and Western Sydney Academies of Sport. The Games will also highlight guest Academies, including teams from Sydney and the ACT.
The Games features the emerging talent of over 1000 athletes across 7 sports including Basketball, Cycling, Golf, Hockey, Netball, Triathlon and Indoor Volleyball.
Hunter and Central Coast Academies of Sport will be represented by close to 300 athletes across all sports on offer at this years event.
Chief Executive Officer of the Hunter and Central Coast Academies of Sport Brett O’Farrell stated: “We are extremely excited to build on the success of last year’s games hosted by the team down at SSA. Both Hunter and Central Coast squads have been training since October last year in preparation for this event, and we look forward to seeing their hard work and talent on show amongst some of the state’s best athletes.”
“With the new PCYC available for Basketball, and the opportunity for Basketball, Volleyball and Triathlon all within the Bolton Park precinct we can showcase some of the state’s best athletes in the center of Wagga.”
“We are fortunate to be hosted by SSA for the second of three years and with each year we aim to build on the last. Through this success, the Games have generated an estimated 6228 bed stays in the region annually, with a total economic tourism value of just under $2M.” O’Farrell finished.
Chairman of ClubsNSW, Dr. George Peponis OAM commented; “We are delighted to be sponsoring the Your Local Club Academy Games again this year — and what an exciting opportunity for the community of Wagga Wagga to host the event. New South Wales clubs are some of the biggest supporters of grassroots sport right across the state, so the relationship between our organisation and RASi is a very natural one, and one we look forward to fostering well into the future.”
The 2023 event coincides with the exciting news that ClubsNSW have extended their partnership with the RASi for a further two years – with further investment in the Your Local Club Academy Games and the RASi Annual Awards Night.
Dr Peponis followed, “We are thrilled to have extended our longstanding partnership with RASi for another two years. This alliance will see ClubsNSW sponsor the Your Local Club Academy Games once again, as well as the RASi Awards Night, further strengthening the integral relationship between clubs and grassroots sport right across the state.”
The 2023 Your Local Club Academy Games is proudly supported by Clubs NSW, the NSW Government, Wagga Wagga City Council, Southern Cross Austereo, Active Health Riverina, Regional Academies of Sport and Southern Sports Academy
For more information on the Games, please visit www.academygames.com.au
The Golf component of the Regional Academy Games gets underway on Saturday with more than 80 golfers from around the state taking part in the 36 Hole Individual Strokeplay Tournament at Wagga Wagga Country Club. The tournament moves to Tumut GC on Sunday for the Teams Matchplay Section.
In addition to the RASi network taking part, more than 20 golfers from the JNJG Metro North and Metro South Academies will make the trip to Wagga Wagga, with the individual boy and girl winner from the 36 Holes on Saturday qualifying for the 2023 Bonville Champions Trophy.
