Michelle Daw, Yorke Peninsula Country Times
The third Masters Games in a row held on the Copper Coast has wrapped, with plaudits from organisers and the more than 1000 competitors who took part.
The Copper Coast 2024 Masters Games, held from Thursday to Sunday, April 11 to 14, attracted 1043 registered competitors.
Of these, 136 were from the Copper Coast, 846 were from other South Australian regions, and 61 travelled from interstate.
It was the third year in a row the event was held on the Copper Coast, offering a range of sports at venues throughout the region, with a central focus on the Copper Coast Sport and Leisure Centre at Kadina.
Speaking at the opening ceremony on Friday, Copper Coast Council mayor Roslyn Talbot said the Masters Games were an outstanding achievement for the region.
“We are very proud to be the first area to host back-to-back-to-back Masters Games in SA,” she said.
Sport SA chief executive Leah Cassidy said the Masters Games helped to highlight the central role of sport in regional SA communities.
“Sport doesn’t just happen in Adelaide — we love to shine a spotlight on the regions,” she said.
Ms Cassidy said holding the games for three years in a row had been a huge undertaking for council, its staff and all the volunteers.
Member for Narungga Fraser Ellis said the games had gone from strength to strength each time they were held on the Copper Coast.
“We have got about 1100 people here, playing sport, staying in our region and hopefully they will come back again to visit,” he said.
All speakers at the ceremony paid tribute to the invaluable contribution of volunteers towards making the games a success for the past three years.
Games chairperson Lynn Spurling said the early estimate was that the 2024 games had created an economic benefit to the region of about $800,000.
“We have not yet had a chance to calculate this year’s economic impact accurately, however, we have made this estimate going by the formula from the 2023 Masters Games and the anecdotal information that people were here on average for a four-night stay,” she said.
“We had 907 competitors from outside the region, plus their partners, friends and families, so the estimate is based on 2500 visitors at four nights each, with each spending $80 a day.”
Mother and daughter duo Robyn and Lisa Raeder, of Winkie in the Riverland, competed in athletics events and each won medals in the Masters Mile.
They were full of praise for the carnival and the region.
“Everyone is so friendly and the volunteers here are wonderful,” Robyn said.
Lisa said it was the first time either of them had visited the Copper Coast and they were keen to come back and explore the region further.
“We probably would never have visited here if we hadn’t been competing in the Masters Games,” she said.
The 2025 Masters Games will be held in Port Augusta, so the 2024 games concluded on Sunday with a handover of the games flag by Mrs Talbot and Sport SA president Michael Wright to Port Augusta mayor Linley Shine.
This article appeared in Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 16 April 2024.
