HORSHAM Rural City Council could join other regional Victorian cities in their bid to jointly host the 2030 Commonwealth Games.
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Greater Shepparton City Council is leading the campaign, which would see events shared between Shepparton, Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong, Mildura, Wodonga and Warrnambool.
Proposed venues include mountain bike riding at Mt Bulla, track cycling at Bendigo’s Tom Flood Centre and tennis at the Wodonga Lawn Tennis Centre. The initial plan does not include events in the Wimmera.
The bid could face competition from Melbourne and other Australian cities, as the Australian Commonwealth Games Association endorses only one Australian bid for the games, which would then be pitched to the international body, the Commonwealth Games Federation.
Mayor Pam Clarke said the council would investigate what the region, as a whole, could provide to the pitch.
“We don’t know yet if we can (be included)," she said.
“We will see what we can provide first and whether it is viable. Part of that would be seeing what sports we could carry here.”
Former Olympic shooter Alethea Sedgman, also a Horsham councillor, said she would push for the Wimmera to be included.
“I think it would be awesome,” she said.
“We have the motocross junior world championships (in Horsham) next year and look what’s that doing to the town – everyone is excited and accommodation is fully booked. Imagine if the Commonwealth Games came here … what the benefits would be and how it would inspire future generations.”
Cr Sedgman said hosting an event could have a huge impact on sporting in the region.
“I never thought I’d go to the Commonwealth Games, let alone the Olympics,” Sedgman said.
“It shows what you can achieve living in regional areas. To have the Games come to town would be a great step for the future”
Cr Sedgman said the Wimmera could accommodate many events with the right planning.
“I don’t see any parameters on what we can do. Anything they can do in Ballarat, I’m sure we can do our best to get done here,” she said.
Wimmera Regional Sports Assembly's David Berry said all councils should be pushing to be involved.
He said the region had the ability to plan accordingly, should it be included as a Games host.
“With enough notice, council should be able to put aside funding to develop infrastructure,” he said.
Mr Berry said the Wimmera could host netball in the planned multi-purpose stadium, beach volleyball, or athletics using the same infrastructure as the Stawell Gift.
He said the region could easily accommodate an archery range or host shooting events.
“There are lots of sports that could easily be brought out to regional areas for the Games,” he said.
Mr Berry said being part of the 2030 Commonwealth Games would be fantastic for Wimmera athletes and sport engagement.
“We know after every Olympic Games we see a spike in Olympic sports. The Commonwealth Games could easily be like that,” he said. “If we know well in advance that we’re possibly hosting the Games, young athletes could be inspired to be even better than what they are.”
He said it would be especially beneficial for Wimmera athletes to compete on their home turf.
Greater Shepparton City Council mayor Dinny Adem formally announced the pitch, called 'the people's games' at Victoria Park Lake in Shepparton on Thursday.
Cr Adem said if the bid was successful, it would "leave a legacy for millions of people like we have never seen before".
The Australian association will start considering proposals from 2019, but a decision will not be made until 2023.