Member for Wagga Wagga Dr Joe McGirr has pleaded with the NSW Government to reconsider its funding cut to the Regional Academies of Sports. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
Member for Wagga Wagga Dr Joe McGirr has called for the NSW Government to continue funding its Regional Academies of Sport (RAS) ahead of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
In a plea to the government’s Legislative Assembly this week, Dr McGirr highlighted his displeasure at the announcement that $3.7 million would be cut from the RAS, stating the program should have received a boost instead.
RAS is a network of nine sporting academies across NSW that delivers programs to develop elite athletes. It includes the Southern Sports Academy, which is based in Wagga and provides Riverina athletes a central place to improve their skills.
“Last year the Regional Academies of Sport launched Bound for Brisbane, an ambitious plan to develop young regional athletes for the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics,” Dr McGirr said.
“The academies prepared a business case asking the NSW Government to increase funding from $5.2 million to $6.5 million a year, which is a modest request in the context of what it could deliver, and it was one I was proud to support.
“Imagine their dismay when they learned that, instead of receiving extra funding, the government would cut its annual funding to just $3.7 million.
“What a blow to the aspiring sports stars of regional NSW. We might ask not only what a gold medal is worth, but also what’s the price of a young person’s dreams?
“If we fail to make this investment, our hopes for Brisbane will take a battering and hundreds of regional boys and girls and young men and women may never realise their potential.”
Dr McGirr brought to the attention of the Assembly the percentage of medalists who were regional athletes at the past three Olympic Games and the importance of continuing to support the athletes.
“The numbers speak for themselves. Athletes from the 11 Regional Academies of Sport in NSW have won 45 medals in the past three Olympics,” he said.
“That is about 30 per cent of Australia’s total medal tally. Those are amazing results, and these are amazing organisations, but it does not come for free.
“I understand that the government is under pressure to reduce expenditure. But I urge it to consider the regional kids of today and help them shine on the world stage of tomorrow by funding the full Bound for Brisbane package.
“Alicia Lucas [nee Quirk] reminds me that some of Australia’s greatest athletes came up through the regions. She warns that if support is lost, ‘we may never see a Mark Taylor or a Don Bradman or an Alicia Lucas at the highest levels’.
“I urge the government to find the money to underwrite the sporting future of regional NSW and Australia.”
