Multi-million dollar investment for NSW Rugby
NEWS: Rugby in New South Wales enters a new era following the announcement of a multi-million dollar investment from the NSW Government.
NSW Minister for Sport Stuart Ayres has announced that the Government will invest $20-million into the development of a new home for rugby and programmes to develop the sport in New South Wales.
The facility will be the epicentre for the State’s rugby community and a hub for more than just the development of the game.
With a strong emphasis on providing services in health and wellbeing to the communities in NSW, the new facility is vital for the ongoing growth of rugby. The organisation’s official charity, the NSW Positive Rugby Foundation, will be based at the facility as part of a charity hub that will be key components of a new concept for rugby in the future.
The Foundation, which was established in late 2017, raises funds through coterie donations that go directly towards the growth of rugby at all levels in the State.
“This day heralds a new era in NSW Rugby’s 145-year history and we would like to express our gratitude to the State Government for their support and investment in our communities and sport,” NSW Rugby CEO Andrew Hore.
“We have been working towards this goal for a long time and to have this investment confirmed today is a massive boost for what we are looking to achieve. Our goal is to create a home for the whole of the game, from our administrators, charity partners, rugby supporters, members and our NSW representative teams.
“While there will be an element of high performance to continue to produce the best male and female rugby talent in Australia at all levels, this facility represents the communities that make up our game,” Hore added.
“We pride ourselves on delivering the best talent for rugby in this country, from junior to senior level for both men’s and women’s teams and our new home will help us to continue to do so for the good of the game.”
NSW Minister for Sport Stuart Ayres said: “This is fantastic news for rugby in NSW. This new world-class high performance facility will be the envy of rugby administrations across the world and will support the development of the game and the next generation of rugby talent.
“But this facility will be so much more than that, with health and wellbeing support and services that will assist the broader community.”
The new centre will boast training and gym facilities for all NSW’s representative teams as well as the administration offices of NSW Rugby with a long-term plan to accommodate NSW Rugby’s other charity partners as well.
“Our organisation supports 244 competitions State-wide for men and women, boys and girls, from junior level to club rugby and competitions in our nine country zones. This new home is a place for all of our rugby community and a place to continue to build our game across the State,” Hore said.
“Having our charity partners on our premises further underlines what this facility is about and we will be working closely with them to make this happen.
“Today’s [Thursday] commitment for the new facility will allow us to work with our community partners and look at how our new hub can support them and broaden the work rugby does with our communities,” Hore said.
The process for finalising the architectural detail is expected to take approximately six months with the aim to commence construction of the new facility towards the end of 2019.
