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Council has released its Commonwealth Games proposal to the community.
The submission, lodged with the Victorian Government on August 12, contains letters of support from representative sporting groups and from member for Wannon Dan Tehan and member for South West Coast Roma Britnell.
It also contains a pitch for the marathon to be hosted with Moyne Shire on a course that would take in a stretch of coastline and potentially stunning vistas from and across Tower Hill.
“We have put forward strong cases to provide hosting of hockey and/or cycling,” Mayor Cr Vicki Jellie said.
“That might involve hosting a national team or providing facilities for practice competition or pre-Games training.
“We have also put forward a case for hosting basketball and shooting which may become nominated Commonwealth Games sports.”
Council has also put forward proposals for hosting demonstration sports: Esports and skateboarding.
“We were conscious of the messaging from the organising committee about demonstration sports and wanting to appeal to a younger generation,” Cr Jellie said.
“We’ve got a great skatepark and there is space for adding to our skating facilities.
“And we’ve got support from Deakin University which has the know-how and the spaces suited to Esports events.”
“Once again I want to thank our local sporting organisations and political representatives for their contributions and their enthusiasm.
“It really was a great, co-operative effort on the part of our working group.
“And while we understand that the bulk of the sporting action will be within a 90-minute radius of Melbourne there is a role for other regional centres.
“Our beautiful coastal setting, sports-loving community, hospitality industry and our record at hosting major sporting events such as the Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic and surf lifesaving championships put us in a position to play a role in Victoria 2026.
The Victorian Government and Commonwealth Games Australia, which comprise the Games Host, are working with the Commonwealth Games Federation on additional sports to be added to the Victoria 2026 program.
International sporting federations had until August 19 to submit proposals to be added to the Games roster with the Victorian Government prioritising “Commonwealth Games Federation Core sports that have been in recent Commonwealth Games, as well as considering new sports with significant potential for growth, audience appeal and enduring community benefit.”
Up to five additional sports are expected to be added to the Games through this separate Expression of Interest process.