The Wagga Vipers U18 girls will be looking to go back-to-back at the NSW Junior State Cup Southern Conference carnival at Jubilee Park this weekend. Photo: Wagga Vipers.
Hundreds of the state’s best young touch football players are set to take to the fields of Jubilee Park as part of the prestigious NSW Junior State Cup Southern Conference.
The popular carnival, set to attract more than 8000 people to Wagga, will see 183 teams take part in boys and girls competitions for players as young as 10 and up to 18 years of age.
More than 500 games will be played across the three days, kicking off at 8 am Friday 13 February, with the finals for each age group to be played from midday on Sunday 14 February.
One of the teams looking to gather a few wins will be the Wagga Vipers.
Vipers president Marc Lawrence said that having a tournament of this calibre in Wagga benefitted the development of the sport in regional areas.
“So often regional teams have to travel to the big cities to get the chance to play in a competition or carnival like this,” he said.
“It’s a little bit of a role reversal here, having all the Sydney teams come down.
“So many local families are thankful that they’re able to play here locally. They’re not forced to travel hours and hours and pay for accommodation and all that sort of stuff that they normally would.
“Things like that are really important for regional development. As a result of just having the carnival here for the last eight years, we’ve seen a lot more participation locally, and that’s ultimately what the goal is, to spread the game.”
Wagga Vipers’ president Marc Lawrence, Wagga Mayor Dallas Tout and NSW Touch Football General Manager Dean Russell with the NSWTA Junior State Cup. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
Teams as far as Sydney, Canberra and Orange will make the trip to Wagga for the carnival, with Wagga Mayor Dallas Tout labelling the event as the biggest on the Wagga sporting calendar.
“It is the eighth consecutive year the carnival has been held in the city, and each one has been a great success for both the NSW Touch Association and our community,” Cr Tout said.
“We are looking forward to welcoming everyone to Wagga Wagga and Jubilee Park for this exciting event and wish all the participants and officials the very best.
“It’s the final one to be hosted here under the current three-year agreement between council and NSWTA, from 2024 to 2026, but hopefully it won’t be the last time we see the Junior State Cup Southern Conference carnival in our city.”
While the 2026 carnival is the last under the current agreement between Wagga Wagga City Council (WWCC) and NSW Southern Touch Association, WWCC has announced it has put in a tender to hold the carnival for the next three years.
NSW Touch Football General Manager Dean Russell admitted it would be extremely difficult to take the carnival away from Wagga.
Mr Russell said Jubilee Park had been a fantastic venue for the carnival for many years, with 2026 being no different.
“The venue, facilities and local support provide an outstanding environment for our young athletes to compete, develop, and showcase the very best of junior touch football from across the state,” he said.
“To run something this large and complicated, we need the support of council and businesses within the community, and that’s something we’ve been able to count on each year we’ve held the carnival in Wagga Wagga.
“We look forward to a fantastic event and thank the Wagga Wagga community and local association for their continued support.”
During the carnival there will be changed traffic conditions around Jubilee Park, including a number of road and lane closures under traffic management control.
Red Hill Road will be closed to east-bound traffic between the Bourke Street and Glenfield Road roundabouts – detours via Bruce Street. Bourke Street between Bourkelands Drive and Red Hill Road roundabout will be closed to south-bound traffic – detours via Berembee Road, Bourkelands Drive and Holbrook Road.
Road closures will be in place from 6 am to 7 pm on Friday and Saturday, and from 6 am to 5 pm on Sunday – detours will be signposted.
