TWO of Coffs Harbour’s biggest annual sporting events are set to take place in June.

The best Oztag players in NSW will once again descend on Coffs Harbour in the pursuit of state championships.

The 2022 NSW Junior State Cup will be held from 1 June – 5 June, while the 2022 NSW Senior State Cup will be held from 24 June – 26 June.

The 2022 NSW State Cups were originally scheduled to be held in Coffs Harbour in February and March, but had to be rescheduled due to moving the Australian Championships to the same months after they were postponed this year.

Australian Oztag General Manager Bill Harrigan explained the reasoning behind moving the State Championships in Coffs Harbour back a few months.

“The February and March dates were the original dates for the NSW 2022 State Cup, it was a no-brainer to move the Australian Championships to these dates as the venue was already booked and Nationals must be played before the 2022 State Cups,” he said.

“This meant we had to move the NSW State Cup tournaments to later in the year.

“We knew there would be ramifications but again, it was imperative we play the NSW State Cups.

“The logistics of fitting the tournaments in was going to be difficult considering the stadium availability, playing them before the scheduled 2022 Australian Championships, and contending with winter sports.”

Harrigan highlighted a big change for next year’s NSW Junior State Cup.

“Friday will be a lay day, the reason for this split and Friday being a lay day is on two fronts,” he said.

“If we played the four days in a row and the same number of teams which attended the 2021 State Cup attend, then Coffs Harbour would simply not cater with the accommodation needed.

“It would mean around 380 teams could possibly attend, the largest tournament we’ve had in Coffs Harbour was 325 and people were staying in Grafton and Nambucca Heads.

“We also don’t know what restrictions may still be present regarding crowd size due to COVID-19.

“Therefore, having this Friday off allows the 13s to 17s divisions to vacate and free up accommodation for the 9s to 12s coming in for the weekend, and it also allows the 13s to 17s who play winter sport the opportunity to return home and play on the weekend.”

 

By Aiden BURGESS