NIAS squads compete at 2021 Your Local Club Academy Games

Competing at the games - which were held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - were NIAS netball, hockey, basketball, golf and triathlon athletes.

With support from the team at the South Tamworth Bowling Club, NIAS sent over 70 of the region's athletes to compete in the Academy Games being hosted by the Hunter Academy of Sport in Newcastle and surrounds.

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Making their way to Wyong early Friday morning, the 'Wests Entertainment Group' Hockey boys and girls squads were the first to hit the field in the afternoon.

The 'Tamworth City Toyota' Basketball squads were next to run on the court.

They played in the evening with the boys coming away with their first win in a nail-biting finish. They claimed victory by just one point.

That initial game set the tone for the following with the boys playing games against South West Sydney, Southern and ACT academies on Saturday and won all three.

The basketball girls had their first win on Saturday against the South West Sydney Academy before they went down by three points to ACT in another close basketball game.

The hockey boys and girls excelled in their play with the girls finishing in fifth place at the conclusion of the event.

The boys squad climbed their way up the ladder against eight other teams to earn their spot in the grand final on Sunday afternoon.

With a final score of 2-0, Metro ended up taking out the top spot and the NIAS boys hockey squad claimed their silver medals.

NIAS CEO James Cooper, who supported the hockey match on Sunday, said: "Having NIAS make their way to playing in the grand final at the Academy Games is a huge achievement.

"These are some of the top athletes across the state competing against each other, so to place second against other academies is something these athletes and coaches should be incredibly proud of."

The 'Glen Innes and District Services Club' Netball teams competed in division one and two at the games.

They began their campaigns on Saturday morning at the indoor courts in Maitland.

In less than fortunate circumstances, the rain wreaked havoc on the netball with a roof leak resulting in the removal of one court with another court to follow suit soon after.

While game time was shortened on the Saturday afternoon to accommodate for this, the NIAS teams both enhanced their match-play development across the weekend playing in several close games with some of the state's best players.

The 'Jack Newton Junior Golf' athletes teed off Saturday morning at the Horizons Golf Resort at Salamander Bay.

With the rain making the conditions unfavourable to be out on the course, the competition was shortened to 14 holes.

Ryan McKinnon, Matthew Reece, Luke and Rhys Devney and Oliver Thomas played at the Charlestown Golf club on Sunday. They competed against almost 70 other regional academy athletes where they were able to finish all 18 holes in more pleasant conditions.

The triathlon program also began on Saturday with the draft legal races taking place from 10.15am until 4.45pm.

On Saturday, athletes lined up from 9.45am to complete their races. There was plenty of competition with over 80 athletes who competed across the two days at Cams Wharf in Lake Macquarie.

With the 2020 Academy Games having been cancelled, this was the first time competing at the event for many of these athletes - all of whom represented the academy with determination and as great, young sportspeople from across the New England North West region.