NIAS athletes travel to Wagga Wagga to attend the 2023 Your Local Club Academy Games
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 (RAS) 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.
NIAS CEO, Shona Eichorn, said the NIAS team is excited to travel to Wagga Wagga this week for the 2023 Your Local Club Academy Games.
“70 of our most talented Northern Inland athletes from five NIAS Sports Programs – Golf, Triathlon, Hockey, Basketball and Netball – along with 15 program personnel including coaches, managers and volunteers will soon be on their way to Wagga Wagga,” Mrs Eichorn said.
“This is an exciting opportunity for our talented young athletes to be part of the pinnacle state event for their sports, while participating in higher levels of competition and being seen by selectors. Our NIAS athletes have been training incredibly hard over the past six months to develop their skills and will be utilising these during the upcoming Academy Games.”
The Northern Inland Academy of Sport (NIAS) is a community-based organisation dedicated to identifying regional talent and developing their potential, on and off the field. NIAS is one of 11 Regional Academies of Sport (RAS) across New South Wales participating in the Games.
“We are certainly one of the Academies with the largest geographical region participating in the Academy Games, with NIAS athletes hailing from across the 98,000 square kilometres of our region – from the tablelands of Glen Innes and Armidale on the Great Dividing Range in the east, to the rich black soil plains of Moree and Gunnedah in the west.
“The maroon and golden colours of our region will proudly be worn on athletes’ uniforms.”
Chief Executive Officer of the SSA Mark Calverley stated: “We are extremely excited to build on the success of last year’s games. With the new PCYC available for basketball, and the opportunity to host 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.
This also provides an amazing opportunity for many of our athletes to perform on their home stage.”
“We are fortunate to have the event for 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.”
“Best of luck to all the young athletes competing in this year’s games — you should all be incredibly proud of your efforts.”
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.