More than 900 touch football players from throughout Queensland will take to the Greg Duncan Fields for the sixth annual Bundaberg Cup this weekend.
The two-day carnival has drawn 63 junior and senior teams, one of the largest Bundaberg Cup fields and up from the 48 who contested last year’s event.
Bundaberg Touch Association president Dave Field said the ‘Bundy’ Cup, as it is affectionately known by the local touch football fraternity, provided a welcome boost for the sport.
“It’s a good way to start our touch football season,” Dave said.
“We are ideally placed for a big season after COVID-19 had a significant impact on us last year, as it did with all sports.
“People are now itching to get back out there to play and we have 13 local teams taking to the field this weekend, in addition to teams from throughout Queensland including Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Toowoomba and Kingaroy.”
Dave added that the Bundaberg Cup also served as an ideal vehicle for promoting the Bundaberg Region and the Southern Great Barrier Reef.
“It is a family-oriented event, and from our club’s point of view, the Bundaberg Cup is a great way for us to showcase the club and its facilities and also the Bundaberg Region,” he said.
“If you count the players, their families and supporters, there will be somewhere in the vicinity of 1500-2000 people at the fields and spending money on accommodation, meals and entertainment.
“We do get a lot of returning teams each year and that is great for our association and the wider Bundaberg Region community.”
Dave said the Bundaberg Cup was one of Australia’s richest touch football knockout competitions, offering a $20,000 prize pool across nine social and competitive divisions.
Dave said event ambassador and former NRL star Scott Prince would again attend this year’s event, mixing with players and officials as well as showcasing his skills on the field.
Teams will line up in under-12, under-14 and under-16 boys and girls divisions, social mixed and social men’s competition, and the open men’s and open mixed divisions.
Play gets under way at 8am on Saturday and Sunday with grand finals in every division being contested throughout Sunday afternoon ahead of presentations at 3.15pm.
The Bundaberg Cup is a State Government ‘It’s Live! In Queensland’ event and has been proudly supported by Tourism Events Queensland and Bundaberg Regional Council since 2015.
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