Editor's Note

Hi Everyone,

Unless you’ve been living under a rock this week you are probably aware that the Australian Rugby League Team has been in the region, training ahead of their big match against Samoa in Townsville tomorrow.

Hundreds of people came along to their training session at Whitsunday Sportspark on Sunday and crowds also gathered at the Grand View Hotel in Bowen yesterday for a Meet and Greet.

Despite having never watched an entire game of footy in my life, I have to confess that I couldn’t help but get swept up in the excitement and the buzz of high profile sport this week.

It was fantastic to witness first-hand how sport really captures the heart of small regional communities like ours and I was astounded to see just how excited young footy fans got when they had the chance to meet their heroes.

It was electric!

A huge congratulations must go to the committee of the Whitsunday Sportspark whose vision to create a first-class community sporting venue with facilities to attract high profile clubs has definitely paid off.

It was wonderful to see the community sit in the grandstands, enjoy the air-conditioned Club House and see how comfortable our visiting national sports players were during their visit.

It was also great to hear how local businesses had made the Aussie team feel welcome, but also that it worked both ways with the players regularly taking time to meet the fans and sign autographs.

I was talking to someone from the Airlie Beach Festival of Music this week and she was saying how music is one of those universal things that brings all sorts of people together to share in an experience.

I think exactly the same can be said for sport – it unites us all – even un-sporty types like me felt part of something much bigger this week, the energy was contagious!

Rach

Quote of the Week: “From the pitch to the crowd to the world, there is nothing quite like sport to bring people together” (Richard Branson)

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