WAGGA has a Baylis Street walk of honour to recognise the outstanding contributions of some if its greatest residents, and now there is support for a similar project to acclaim the efforts of the city’s top sportsmen and women.
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The idea has been flagged by readers of The Daily Advertiser after recent calls to erect a statue in tribute to the late great jockey, Scobie Breasley, touted by some to be Wagga’s greatest sports star.
Baylis Street, or the Bolton Park sporting precinct, have been suggested as possible locations for a sporting walk of honour.
A precedent has been set in Cootamundra, which has busts of all Australian cricket captains in its Captains’ Walk in Jubilee Park, including Cootamundra-born Sir Donald Bradman.
And, although not sport-related, Ballarat has its Prime Ministers Avenue in the its botanic gardens.
Arthur Summons, who was inducted in the Wagga Sporting Hall of Fame for his achievements as a rugby league and rugby union international, described a sporting walk of honour as a nice idea.
“That would be a tremendous thing to happen,” Mr Summons said.
“But who would take up the idea?
“That would be your biggest problem, I think, to find someone to take it on and run with it.”
Mayor Greg Conkey is keen to raise the profile of people who have helped make Wagga known throughout Australia as the City Of Good Sports but is not convinced a dedicated walk of honour for them is the way to go.
He said the Sporting Hall of Fame – which has more than 100 inductees – did a great job in trumpeting their achievements.
Cr Conkey thinks a better location for the facility than the current site on Willans Hill would increase the profile of the valued sports achievers.
“It’s a great facility on Willans Hill, but not too many people know about it,” cr Conkey said.
“I certainly would support a more central location to make it more accessible.”
He said people could nominate sports starts to be inducted into the current walk of honour.
Wagga motelier Jamie Pascoe believes a dedicated sporting walk of honour could be a valuable tourist attraction.
He said visitors liked to read about the stories of the places in which they are staying.
“The more points of interest the longer they stay in the city,” Mr Pascoe said.