The challenges are real for talented regional athletes: long drives; escalating fuel prices; debilitating droughts, floods and fires; lack of... facilities, coaches, competition, equipment, opportunities and access. Challenges not often encountered by sporting talent in metropolitan areas.

Born of the regions, developed by the regions and delivered for the regions, the Regional Academies of Sport (RAS) Ltd in collaboration with their many partners, have been operating for close to 40 years in identifying, educating and empowering the pipeline of emerging young regional athletes and coaches, facilitating opportunities along the performance pathway. During this time there has been some success in higher representative honors (eg. 99 Olympians/Paralympians in the past 3 Olympic cycles), however we still have a long way to go given the abundance of talent we know live in regional areas, and with a "home" Olympics on the horizon our role has become even more significant.

However, our regional sporting talent is often limited by financial capacity, environmental and geographic challenges, particularly in the more remote, rural areas. The costs of participation along the performance pathway from foundation to the elite levels continues to escalate preventing access to these opportunities for many. Investment in regional sporting talent matters for the programs RAS operate and the individuals we identify and nurture; it unites communities, supports families and empowers individuals to be better despite the challenges.

Opportunities in sport forge paths to futures which would otherwise be out of reach. Now is the time to invest in our regional sporting talent and provide an indelible legacy for future generations ... it will be the best return on investment you ever made, made regionally.