By TANIA PHILLIPS
SOME of the top sporting teams in the world could be on the Southern Downs in the lead- up to the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018.
Southern Downs Regional Council is pitching to be part of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, with a pre-event training destination proposal launched late last week at the Warwick Hockey facility at Queens Park.
The “Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Pre-event Training Destination Proposal” showcases the best of the Southern Downs’ sports fields and facilities, covering 13 of the 17 sports to be represented at the Commonwealth Games in 2018.
Mayor Peter Blundell said the Southern Downs region had a proud and strong sporting culture across many diverse sports and was ideally positioned to the Gold Coast for teams considering locations for pre-event training.
“With the 2018 Commonwealth Games fast approaching, council saw an opportunity to showcase our region’s top class sporting facilities, such as the Warwick Hockey fields where we’ve chosen to launch the proposal, the 50 metre Olympic pool in Stanthorpe, shooting complexes in both Stanthorpe and Warwick, and a multitude of lawn bowls clubs throughout the region.
“We believe there’s an enormous opportunity to encourage countries, particularly those with an interest in track and field sports, to choose Southern Downs for their pre-event training.
“We also want to use the prospectus to encourage athletes and their families and friends to visit and enjoy the Southern Downs region during their stay for the Games,” he said.
Council called a series of meetings with local sporting organisations that covered sports that will be played during the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, to gauge interest to participate in hosting a country or several small countries for pre-event training.
“The sporting organisations responded energetically and enthusiastically, and a working group was formed to develop a prospectus and find interested countries,” the mayor said.
