After life returning to normal at the start of the year (at least we thought it did), we enjoyed plenty of action across the city's pitches, courts and tracks, at least until the second COVID-19 lockdown came in August, seeing the cancellation of most competitions.

While we did see much sport for several months, there's been plenty of highlights and the Western Advocate has put together its top 10 moments from 2021.

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No doubt what makes the list and what moment should be considered "the best" is a debate that could rage on for hours.

So we won't be ranking our top 10 moments, rather we'll list them alphabetically based on the sport.

Let us know what you think and what moment did you reckon should've be included?

Unlike the other codes of football, Bathurst isn't necessarily known for producing top quality Australian rules footballers.

But back in May, former Bathurst Bushrangers footballer Scott Brown achieved the highest accolade of any local, when he made his VFL debut for Greater Western Sydney Giants in its match with Port Melbourne at Blacktown.

The second-tier competition featured 22 teams last year, with a majority from Victoria, however, there were a few teams from Queensland (four) and NSW (two).

Speaking to the Western Advocate earlier in the year, Brown said he was shocked by his call-up.

"To be honest it was really unexpected. I got a call from my [Giants] academy coach on Thursday night asking if I wanted to have a game of VFL and I said 'Yeah, 100 percent, I'd love to'," he said.

"I don't anyone has played VFL from Bathurst before or anyone from the Central West."

With the Regional Bash final hanging in the balance, Blake Dean blasted 21 runs off a single over for the ACT Aces under lights at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

It was that moment which proved decisive in the Aces winning the Twenty20 competition for the first time as they went on to beat defending champions Lake Mac Attack by four wickets with seven balls in hand.

However, it was not the only special moment from Dean.

The former Bathurst District Cricket Association player was the clear choice for the player of the final as he finished unbeaten on 70 runs off 55 deliveries - having scored more than half of the 131-run total his side required for victory.

Under a rule change, Dean has since been able to represent the Central West Wranglers under the player of origin rule.

David Nicholas won his fourth Paralympic medal at this year's Paralympics in Tokyo resident, when he rode to a bronze medal in the men's C3 3000 metres individual pursuit.

It was the first time he's won a medal while residing in Bathurst.

Nicholas rode a time of 3:25.877 in the bronze medal race to beat Santas Asensio by 1.956 seconds in a great tactical battle.

The Bathurst rider got himself to a 1.3 second lap one kilometre into the reach but had a big fight on his hands when the Spaniard brought that margin back under a second with just under half the race to go.

Nicholas held his nerve to push that gap back up to 1.4 seconds with just two laps to go and he would dominate the last stretch of the pursuit with an experienced finish.

It'll go down as of the biggest nights of harness racing in Bathurst.

Due to COVID-19, the Inter Dominion was held exclusively in NSW and quality heats were brought outside of Sydney on a rare occasion.

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Menangle, Newcastle and Bathurst would all host heats in the pacing and trotting championships, with the crowd on hand to witness the local event on par or even stronger compared to those that watch the Gold Crown final.

The pacing qualifying heat night, which was held only early this month on December 1, was dominated by Luke and Belinda McCarthy, the driver-training partnership winning all three heats with Expensive Ego, Spirit of St Louis and King of Swing.

More than 300 of Australia's best young hockey players descended on Bathurst back in April, as the city hosted the Australian Hockey Under 15s Championships for the first time.

Every state and territory was represented across the boys and girls tournaments, marking the first time Bathurst had ever hosted a national championship.

When speaking to the Western Advocate earlier year, Bathurst Hockey Association president Kent Bestwick said it was a big occasion for the town.

"It's massive, it's the first time it's ever happened out this way. We've never had a nationals out this way," he said.

"To have it in your home town and be part of it as well as being president of the association has been really good."

St Pat's junior Lily Kable captained the NSW girls number one side to victory, downing Western Australian 5-3 in a thrilling final.

She described it as the "best feeling ever".

"The team deserves it so much, with all the work we've put in. That game was a great game. It was tough for WA but we really put in the work to win it," she said.

For the first time ever, the Supercars season was launched with the Mount Panorama 500 back in February, making up for the cancelled Bathurst 12 Hour.

The event featured two single-driver 250 kilometre races, both of which were won by Shane van Gisbergen.

The Bathurst 1000 was originally scheduled to take place in October, but the Supercars calendar had to be revised following the COVID-19 outbreaks in NSW and Victoria, which saw events at Phillip Island, Winton and Gold Coast cancelled.

The season resumed with a quadruple-header featuring a mix of day and night racing at the Sydney Motorsport Park at Eastern Creek, before the season concluded with a massive six days of racing at Mount Panorama for the Bathurst 1000.

It was one of the biggest ever occasions for motor sport in Bathurst's history, which also featured the Dunlop Super 2 Series, Porsche Carrera Cup, Toyota Gazoo Racing 86 Series, TCR Australia, Touring Car Masters, S5000, GT World Challenge Australia, V8 SuperUtes and Trans Am.

The 2021 Bathurst 1000 was eventually won by Holden drivers Chaz Mostert and Lee Holdsworth.

While we didn't know it at the time, when Penrith Panthers brought its annual NRL game to Bathurst back in May, we were witnessing some pretty incredible players.

Hosting the Manly Sea Eagles at Carrington Park, Panthers would eventually go on to win the NRL premiership.

Panthers stars Brian To'o, Jarome Luai, Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, Liam Martin and Api Koroisau all played in that Bathurst game and eventually go on to feature in at least one game in NSW's 2-1 series win against Queensland in State of Origin.

But Penrith shouldn't get all the attention here, with Tom Trbojevic featuring for Manly at fullback.

Trbojevic was eventually awarded the Dally M Medal for the best player in the NRL for the 2021 season.

While Manly played well, Panthers were in control for most of the match and ran away winners 28-16 in front of 5,798 fans.

She endured some of the toughest moments of her rugby sevens career in 2021, but Jakiya Whitfeld recovered from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) to win a pair of Rugby Sevens World Cup series gold medals.

During her bid to gain selection in the Australian women's team for the Tokyo Olympic Games, Whitfeld was dealt a huge blow when she had to undergo an ACL reconstruction.

That didn't completely rule her out. She worked hard in recovery and even made an appearance at the Oceania Games. But ultimately Whitfeld was not able to get back to 100 percent in time.

But late November she jetted out to Dubai with the Australian team for the start of the latest edition of the World Rugby Sevens Series, coming out 15-5 winners against Fiji in the cup final.

When it came the representative scene, Bathurst talents played a big part in a domination in the two rugby codes.

In rugby union, the Central West Blue Bulls successfully defended its Caldwell Cup crown with 24-19 win over Far North Coast in Tamworth back in June.

The Blue Bulls were coached by Dean Oxley, a former premiership winning Bathurst Bulldogs coach who will be returning to the blue and golds in 2022.

In rugby league, Group 10 dominated Group 11 in all three representative games in seniors, league tag and under 18s.

All three grades were packed with Bathurst footballers, with seniors winning 20-6, league tag 44-4 and under 18s 42-10.

New Bathurst Panthers captain-coach Jake Betts was announced as player of the match in the seniors game, having starred in the hooker role after taking on the role from lock in just the fourth minute after regular rake Nick Loader went down injured.

For the league tag girls, it was their eight consecutive win in the representative fixture, an unmatched rein of dominance in the Western region.

All games were held at the Tony Luchetti Sportsground in Lithgow.

Not many people get an opportunity to sign a professional contract for a sports club in Australia but Bathurst soccer star Cushla Rue got that chance this year when she linked with the Wellington Phoenix.

While she's yet to represent the A-League Women side yet, she linked with the New Zealand-based club ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Rue will still call Australia home for the time being, Wellington being based in Wollongong until the New Zealand border restrictions ease.

Fingers crossed that she'll get a run sometime in the new year.

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