Last year's cup never reached its conclusion, as the second day's play between Bathurst and Orange High Schools wasn't able to be rescheduled, which in turn handed the trophy to Dubbo based on the standings at the time.

It was a disappointing way for a promising campaign to end for Bathurst, who were looking to bring their dominance from the 2010s into a new decade.

Two of those students looking to lead the charge back to the top of the standings are Bathurst High School's captains, Menzi White and Mikey Murimbechi.

The pair are looking to continue the school's recent run of success on the soccer field, while White is also aiming to take the team to glory on the hockey field.

White said there's been plenty of buzz around the school for the upcoming edition of the cup, especially after last year's interrupted campaign.

"This is my favourite time of the year at school. Everyone's really excited at the moment," she said.

"I've been doing Astley Cup for six years, since 2017. I've been in the girls soccer team since year seven. It's something that never gets old. You get such an adrenaline rush with the way everyone gets around it.

"When you're out there on the field it's such a memorable experience.

"I feel like the girls football team should go well this year. We've got a few young players coming through. One of them is Poppy Channing, in year 9, who will be very beneficial to our team."

This will be Murimbechi's first year playing in the school's soccer side.

He said it's an exciting opportunity to be able to represent his school on the sporting field.

"It's a pretty nerve wreaking experience because there's a few boys in there who have been a part of this for quite a while now so when it's your first year in the team you want to live up to expectations that they set beforehand," he said.

"I feel like our team should be pretty strong. We beat Orange a couple of weeks ago in extra time. We've won every Astley Cup game over the past two years so we definitely want to try and continue that streak.

"We're feeling fairly confident because we feel like we played well in that last game and we feel that we can carry that form on."

Bathurst High School Astley Cup co-coordinator Sarah Murray also expects the school's soccer sides to be strong contributors this year.

"Hopefully we get to play all four days this year, unlike last year when we were snowed out. There's plenty of excitement building, being the 99^th year of the cup," she said.

"Both our soccer teams played Orange a few weeks back in the CHS competitions and they both got wins there, with the boys earning theirs in overtime, which was exciting. I think our hockey team is also looking strong this year."

Thursday's action begins with the tennis at 9.15am, followed by athletics at 11am, girls soccer at 12.45pm and boys soccer at 2.15pm.

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