Up to 1,800 visitors and netballers will begin to arrive in the region next week to take part in the Primary Schools Cup, with projected benefits of more than $800,000 to be injected into the community.
The major sporting event will take place on 24 and 25 September at the Bundaberg Superpark Netball Complex on Enid Ethel Drive.
It will be the second time in four years that the competition has been hosted locally, with Bundaberg Regional Council providing sponsorship funding of $15,000 to support its delivery.
President of Bundaberg Netball Association Matt Leighton said it was one of the biggest competitions on the local sporting calendar with plenty of benefits to come from the two-day event.
“There are 54 teams registered which means there is 540 players, 54 coaches, 54 managers and approximately 60 umpires,” he said.
“With spectators added to that, it is estimated that there will be a total of 1800 visitors to Bundaberg due to this competition.
“These visitors will be staying up to two nights in local accommodation, visiting food venues for dinner and much more.
“Suppliers of food and drinks to Bundaberg Netball will also benefit as lunch and snacks are provided to all the players, coaches, managers and umpires at the courts.
“Being school holidays there will be some who will extend their stay to visit the tourist destinations of Bundaberg.”
Primary Schools Cup great opportunity for local netballers
Matt said for local players, the competition provided a great opportunity to enhance their skills while going up against some of the best in the state.
“There are nine Bundaberg teams from six schools playing in the competition, four of the teams are competing in the championship division and five teams playing in the challenge division,” he said.
“For some of our players it is their first netball carnival so they get to experience playing multiple games in a day against a range of different players of varying ability.
“One thing is for certain, they will all benefit from playing netball against the different schools from across the state.”
Matt said he was looking forward to what the Primary Schools Cup would bring.
“It is always exciting to see the courts full of netball players and the sidelines full of spectators,” he said.
“With the exposure from this carnival there is always the possibility that Bundaberg Netball Association and the Bundaberg Regional Council could host a Netball Queensland state age carnival, which has 150 to 220 teams participating.”
Bundaberg Regional Council has provided funding support for the second time, with Sport and Recreation portfolio spokesperson Cr Vince Habermann stating the Primary Schools Cup was a huge drawcard for visitors.
“The majority of participants will travel from outside of Bundaberg and will stay a minimum of two nights for the carnival, with the option to extend their trip to sightsee in our wonderful region” he said.
“Bundaberg hosted the same event in 2018 which provided an estimated direct spend into the community of $760,240.
“As past experiences have shown us, this event provides a huge economic boost, and we are estimating the 2022 Primary Schools Cup to provide a minimum direct spend of $860,000.”
