Active Farmers founder and chief executive officer Ginny Stevens has hailed the Active Farmers Games at Coleambally as a success.

The Games were created to raise awareness of the importance of physical and mental health in rural communities and to encourage more men to become more active.

About 30 teams of three people competed in events which were designed to “mimic real-life challenges”.

Teams consisted of at least one male and one female, with the Surf N Turfs team completing the course in the fastest time on Saturday at Coleambally Sports Precinct.

Mrs Stevens said it had been difficult to organise and resurrect the Games, but she was delighted with the outcome.

“Overall, it was an incredibly positive event,” she said.

“It was so fulfilling for me.

“Our vision is to build stronger and more resilient farming communities and I think we achieved that.

“It’s evident that having some physical exercise and catching up with people has amazing mental health benefits behind it.”

Parents and their children eagerly made their way through an obstacle course with 20 obstacles and enjoyed events such as hay wall climbs, mud crawl and tyre stacking.

Mrs Stevens was “thrilled” with the number of people, including spectators, being involved in the Games.

“About six of our Active Farmers trainers brought teams,” she said.

“There were about 70 kids and 30 volunteers who were crucial, so there were about 200 plus people there.

“Another really good thing we had was MSCAN which provided free skin checks.

“Over 30 people did a skin check, so that was great.”

Mrs Stevens said sponsors, local businesses, volunteers and DJ Static had played a key role in the Games being such a successful, popular event.

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 17 March 2022.