STATEMENT – Dubbo Sportsworld
Anton Croxford
Chairman — Indoor Sports NSW
Indoor Sports NSW holds serious concerns about the future of indoor cricket and genuine multi-sport access in Dubbo following plans that may effectively remove a long-standing indoor sports offering from the region.
For decades, the Dubbo indoor sports centre has been a proven and valued community asset. It has delivered consistent, year-round participation opportunities for thousands of local families, shift workers, junior athletes and social competitors. The venue has supported strong indoor cricket competitions and contributed to representative pathways across New South Wales.
Facilities with this level of community history and participation value should not be diminished without clear, equivalent replacement capacity. Once established indoor sports programs are displaced, they are extremely difficult and in many cases impossible to rebuild in regional communities.
Indoor Sports NSW supports sensible investment in community sport infrastructure and recognises the important youth engagement role played by PCYC NSW. However, investment must not come at the cost of existing, high-participation indoor sports that have demonstrably served the Dubbo community for many years.
We are particularly concerned that the proposed changes risk narrowing the facility’s genuine multi-sport capability and reducing diversity of indoor sporting opportunities in the region. Regional communities benefit most from flexible, shared indoor venues that maximise participation across multiple sports, not from consolidation that limits access.
Indoor cricket in Dubbo has a proud and well-established presence. Any outcome that results in the effective loss or displacement of these competitions without a clearly planned, viable long-term home would represent a significant step backwards for participation in Western NSW.
Indoor Sports NSW is calling for immediate and meaningful engagement with existing user groups and sector representatives to ensure:
• Proven indoor sports are not unintentionally displaced
• Genuine multi-sport functionality is preserved
• Any redevelopment delivers a net participation benefit for the Dubbo community
We remain willing to work constructively with PCYC NSW, the NSW Government and local stakeholders. However, the priority must be to protect access and opportunity for the communities and sports that have built this venue’s legacy over many years.
Regional sport infrastructure should expand opportunity, not reduce it.
Contact:
Anton Croxford
Chairman — Indoor Sports NSW
0402515551
contact@isnsw.org.au