“I am packed, ready to go.’’
Gerry Knights, the executive director of South West Sydney Academy of Sport (SWSAS), is excited about a renewed push to make the dream of a sport centre of excellence a reality for the Macarthur region.
Earlier today Mr Knights joined the man doing the bulk of the pushing, Macarthur MP Russell Matheson, and federal sport and health minister Sussan Ley, to discuss plans for what essentially would be a mini academy of sport which would cost close to $20 million.
The SWSAS – with 17 sports under its umbrella – would be one of the organisations that would use the centre of excellence, which has been earmarked for land in the Campbelltown campus of the University of Western Sydney.
“The issue at the moment is a lot of local athletes have to leave the region to go to the NSW institute of sport three, four times a week,’’ Mr Knights said.
“This is a huge impost on their families, the long travel times, so it will make a huge difference to be able to do this training five-ten minutes from where they live.
“It’s going to be absolutely fantastic for everybody,’’ Mr Knights said.
Campbelltown Council has put the proposal for a sports centre of excellence together but it needs funding from the federal government to make it a reality.
Mr Matheson, a five time mayor of Campbelltown and currently the member for Macarthur, spoke passionately about his desire to see the proposal get the funding green light.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“I’ve been like a dog with a bone in the last 20 years and I’ll never let go – the opportunity is here now, the time is right, the numbers add up, we need this sort of facility here, and if doesn’t come this time I will be severely disappointed,’’ Mr Matheson told the media conference at Campbelltown Stadium.[/social_quote]
“I’ve stated my case to the minister and the prime minister, so I’m confident – but until then my focus is on delivering this project to the people of Macarthur in the short term, not the long term.’’
Sport minister Sussan Ley was almost as passionate as Russell Matheson: “I’ve spent a day here and I’m really impressed with the concept, the institute of sport, because it’s not just about facilities, it’s more than that.
“If you’re a kid growing up in Campbelltown it’s about aspiration, it’s about saying ‘I can be an elite athlete’, and the facilities are here to support that.
“And we don’t want everything for elite sport to be on the coast or in the cities, we want it to be in the fastest growing region, a region which has a great history of young people growing and who have performed at the top level in sport.
“I’m really excited about it and I know when Russell was the mayor he was pushing for this then and pushing for it ever since.
“I had seen it on paper, now I’ve come out and seen it and I will be talking to the PM very shortly.’’
