The girls bring huge numbers to Bathurst, soccer fans and city all benefit

Between the annual Proctor Park Challenge and the first ever Women's A-League game in Bathurst, the city is reaping the rewards.

Not only is it great to see such successful sporting events make their way to the city, but the thousands of people who follow all inject money into the local economy.

Between accommodation, food, fuel and other expenses, Bathurst mayor Jess Jennings said it's terrific for everyone involved directly and indirectly when these events come to fruition.

"It's a great result for the local economy and the local businesses that benefit from these events," he said.

"The spend per person, plus the multiplier effect would give a really strong result for weekends like this.

"It really keeps the cash registers ringing."

In addition to the strong economical boost the "festival of football weekend" provided the city, Cr Jennings said building new relationships and bringing more variety of events to Bathurst is always good.

Cr Jennings commended councillor Ian North on the hard work he put in to building a relationship with the Western Sydney Wanders - who took on the Newcastle Jets in Bathurst's first ever Women's A-League game on February 9, 2024, - and he hopes the relationship continues into the future.

Running the A-League game on the same weekend as the Proctor Park Challenge - an annual soccer tournament for young girls - is something everyone involved with the weekend hopes to see happen again.

"It makes total sense to have a festival of football weekend that has the elite A-League level down to junior amateurs, and a great way to kick off 2024," Cr Jennings said.

"In terms of the Wanderers game, I definitely want to acknowledge the significant efforts that councillor North has put in to building a relationship with the Wanderers and getting this game here.

"I'm looking forward to working closely with the Wanderers in terms of a positive future, maintaining a strong relationship and hopefully getting to see them here more often."

Between the 3873 spectators at the Wanderers game, and the 5000 visitors predicted per day of the Proctor Park Challenge, these events provide the city with a huge economical boost.

Bathurst MP Paul Toole said running both events over the same weekend was a great way to kick off the year in Bathurst.

Especially with some more fantastic sporting events coming up, including the Bathurst 12-Hour and 500.

"Events like these support businesses around town. All of our hotels were booked out, people were eating out at our restaurants, they were buying from local shops, so it provides a huge economic injection into the local community," Mr Toole said.

"There's plenty more events just around the corner with the 12-Hour event and the 500, which help to bring people to the area, support our businesses and drive our local economy."

With an average crowd number of around 1000 at a Wanderers stand-alone fixture, looking up at 3873 cheering faces really cemented the want to return to Bathurst for the team's chief executive officer (CEO) Scott Hudson.

Between the work Bathurst Regional Council put in to making the event a reality, and the response from the wider community, Mr Hudson said he would love to make the fixture an annual staple on the calendar.

And he is very grateful for the support the Wanderers received, both at events leading up to the game and on the night itself.

"It was so good, we loved every minute of it, it was a great buzz," he said.

"For me, the biggest joy was at the end when we won the game and you see all the young kids on the sideline and all the players handing out posters and doing signatures and photos. That's what it's really all about.

"Talking to council, 2000 or 3000 was a good result, so to exceed that and get close to 4000 was amazing and shows the potential for something that we're eager to grow and see how big we can make it."