THE Tamworth Regional Sports Awards might have run their final race with council on the brink of scrapping the annual event due to a lack of interest.
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The annual sports awards predate the formation of Tamworth Regional Council, but events manager Barry Harley said it had become increasingly hard to drum up nominations and attendance.
In recent years, council has brought in high profile guest speakers in a bid to increase participation, but Mr Harley’s report to council said it had only “eaten into the awards budget”.
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Councillors will be asked to vote in favour of canning the sports awards and replacing it with an annual donation program for local groups worth $7000.
“The lack of support by the Tamworth sporting community indicates the awards are no longer overly popular,” Mr Harley’s report said.
“Further, the amount of calls and following up undertaken by staff is an expense not calculated in the cost of staging the event and is deemed no longer a sound investment.”
If councillors support the motion, a new sporting donations program would be rolled-out to contribute “to the sporting organisations in the region to improve their programs and facilities”.
It was also suggested council add a sporting component to its Australia Day awards ceremony.
Tamworth sporting identity Mike Cashman said council should retain some form of recognition for the region’s sportspeople.
“They’ve contributed to community and they’re people who’ve achieved excellence in a certain sphere,” Mr Cashman said.
“Tamworth has had a very good sporting profile over the years.”
He said the numbers had dropped off in recent years, with nominees accounting for most of the attendees and suggested a lack of promotion and the rise of the Northern Inland Academy of Sport awards could have been factors.
He said there was “some merit” in adding sports recognition to the annual Australia Day awards.