Australia is a haven for sporting enthusiasts and boasts numerous major sporting events, both domestic and international, throughout the course of every year. And while the vast majority of these are concentrated in major cities like Melbourne and Sydney, there are still plenty of high-quality sporting events to catch in the vast expanses of rural Australia. These are five of the most notable of them.
1. Stawell Gift
The Stawell Gift is both the oldest and the richest short-distance race in the country, and attracts quality sprinters to the small, western Victorian town of Stawell every Easter. It has been held annually since way back in 1878, and while there is an entire carnival over the course of the weekend, it’s the 120-metre handicapped event which garners the most attention. In a unique quirk the race is run on a slightly uphill gradient, with runners typically finishing in around 12 seconds. Its extensive history as well as the talent of the participants makes this a hugely popular event, and gives Stawell plenty of attention that it would otherwise likely not receive.
2. Bathurst 1000
The Bathurst 1000 is known as The Great Race for a reason. Technically it’s just another stop on the Supercars Championship circuit that travels around Australia each year, but as all motorsport fans know, if the drivers could choose one race to win this would be the one. It’s held at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, a town of under 40,000 people a couple of hundred kilometres west of Sydney. The race was first held in 1960, and moved to Bathurst in 1963, where it has remained ever since. The famous Peter Brock is the most successful driver in the history of the event, having saluted on nine occasions, and as a result the winner is now awarded with the Peter Brock trophy.
3. NRL
The NRL is the premier rugby league tournament in Australia and, in the eyes of most, the world, and while it is predominantly held in Sydney, a number of teams call regional Australia their home. All of the Newcastle Knights, St. George Dragons and North Queensland Cowboys play their home games at regional locations, and though the likes of Newcastle, Wollongong and Townsville aren’t exactly remote outback locations, they are still regional and give Australians living outside of the big cities a local team to support. Unsurprisingly, NRL support in these towns is centred very heavily on these local teams, and though the $81 on offer for St. George to win the NRL Grand Final is the shortest among these three teams - suggesting none of them are likely to be competing at the business end of the season - there always is plenty of passion and a great atmosphere whenever they play at home.
4. Australian MotoGP
As anyone who has ever been to Phillip Island can attest, it doesn’t exactly look like the location where a major international sporting event would be held - but looks can be deceiving. Every year, the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season comes to this picturesque little island to the southwest of Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix, where it has been held ever since 1997. The Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit is one of the most scenic on this international circuit, with the Pacific Ocean dominating the backdrop, and many of the best motorcyclists in the world have had plenty of success here. Italy’s Valentino Rossi is the most successful with eight wins, local Casey Stoner has six, while Spain’s Marc Marquez has won four times, demonstrating the truly international nature of the event.
5. World Surf League’s Championship Tour
The Championship Tour sees the world’s best surfers traverse the globe to surf some of the best waves on the planet, and unsurprisingly a number of those are located in Australia. Most years, there are three events taking place in Australia, and none of them are in the big cities. The Gold Coast Pro usually kicks off the season in Coolangatta, after which the tour heads to the iconic Bells Beach in Torquay and then Margaret River a couple of hours south of Perth. Torquay and Margaret River in particular see a huge boom in tourism during these events, with surfing fans flocking from far and wide (or probably more accurately, Melbourne and Perth) to watch the most talented surfers in the world strut their stuff on these incredible waves.
While the majority of Australia’s major sporting events take place in the sporting mecca of Melbourne, Sydney, or one of the other big capital cities, there are still plenty of quality events taking place in regional areas. The above five are some of the best of them, and the variety of those sports is indicative of just how much rural Australia has to offer for sports fans.