Council kicking goals on sport tourism

The success of the 2016 Rugby NSW U/14 State Championships held in Orange over the weekend illustrates the importance of attracting sporting events to the city, Sport and Recreation Policy Committee Chairman Cr Jason Hamling said.

The rugby championship was the 11th sporting event in the current financial year that Orange City Council had actively pursued and secured.

Excluding the NRL and A league games these events involved more than 3500 competitors.

“Some of these events might not get the big headlines of some mainstream professional sporting fixtures lifted out of Sydney. But they do involve some great competition and rising stars.

"The nature of these events, a number of them over a few days, means they also deliver significant benefits to the local economy,” Cr Hamling said.

“Many of these events involve juniors, which mean these competitors are accompanied by family members increasing the economic benefits for the city that is around $3.5 million across these 11 events.

"Over the weekend we heard pubs, cafes and accommodation providers were busy. But there are also benefits for fast food outlets and services stations.”

Council is currently in negotiation with a number of sports governing bodies to attract more events to Orange over the next 12 months.