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Canberra Today 13°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Sporting Confidential: The ticket price of success

WHEN major sporting events, such as Wallaby tests, golf, and first-class cricket, are advertised for Canberra, ticket sales have not been high and the crowd attendance is often poor.

So it will be fascinating to see what happens next year when Canberra is flooded with major events.

For instance, in the three weeks from January 29 to February 17, there are four, possibly five, significant sporting fixtures in Canberra. The Prime Minister’s XI take on the West Indies on January 29, with the possibility that the match could be the first to be played under lights at Manuka.

Eight days later, the Australian team plays the West Indies at the same ground, under lights, in the first international involving the Australian men’s cricket team in Canberra.

There is the Australian Ladies’ Golf Open at Royal Canberra February 11-17, featuring some of the biggest names in women’s golf with the tournament part of the US LPGA tour; and the Brumbies start their Super 15 season at Canberra Stadium against Queensland on February 16. There is also the possibility of an AFL pre-season match between GWS and Essendon around this time.

I would love to see every event packed out. For that to happen, ticket prices need to be reasonable. It’s all very well to have these events on in Canberra, but if it’s too costly to go, then why bother?

So I make this plea to sporting organisations: be reasonable in pricing tickets and you will get a crowd.

Here’s to the Tradies

THANK goodness for the Tradies’ Club. I am not a huge fan of pokies, but if they are going to be part of our lives let’s put the proceeds to positive use.

That’s exactly what the Tradies are doing with women’s sport. When the CFMEU pulled out of sponsoring the Raiders, there was uncertainty about whether the money would be lost to sport.

Those fears were unfounded with the Tradies putting the money into our top three women’s sporting teams; the Canberra Capitals, the ACT Meteors and Canberra United in the W League. The money provided won’t allow the women’s teams to become fully professional; far from it, but it will allow them to be competitive.

Gaining sponsorship, particularly for women’s sport, must be hard work. However, I am also hearing from other sporting organisations that it’s not easy gaining corporate sponsorship at the moment.

Tough time for Trevor

THE departure of Trevor Thurling from the Canberra Raiders has flown under the radar. He didn’t get a chance to play a farewell game.

His season was crippled by injury and he didn’t get a contract for next year.

We often look at the glamour of professional sport, but see little of the work that goes on behind the scenes; the hours of training and the months of rehabilitation from injury. That has been Trevor’s life this year. It’s been frustrating, to say the least.

I loved watching him play; he always gave everything, but injury prevented him from achieving all that he could have. He will be a great buy for the Queanbeyan Blues in the Canberra Raiders’ Cup.

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Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

Tim Gavel

Tim Gavel

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