Over three days last weekend, October 27-29, the 20th Lismore Masters Games brought over 1600 of sports players on the wrong side of 30 to Lismore for competition and social fun.

Lismore City Council Tourism and Events Manager Mitch Lowe said competitor numbers were up by 10% on previous years.

“It was the biggest Masters Games in six years,” Mitch said.

“Feedback from the business community has been great.

“Beneficiaries from visitors to Lismore include pubs, restaurants and cafes who told us they had a massive weekend of business.

"Other industries contributing to the needs of people here who said they had a large increase in people through the doors and sales were chemists, sports shops and petrol stations.

“The Rous hotel in Lismore said it was the biggest weekend of the year for them.”

Mitch said the organisers of the Masters Games were running a post event survey to look at the economic impact of the event on the region. 

“We’d like everybody to feed back to us via our website,” Mitch said.

Mitch said the official celebration for the event at the Lismore Workers Club on Friday night, with live music and dancing, brought lots of teams out and the “atmosphere involved plenty of laughs”.

“In the day, there was competition on field, but that night we saw people in teams having a great time and networking with each other,” he said.

“Sure we give out gold, silver and bronze medals, but it’s about having fun.

“Sports teams were scattered across the city in various pubs and restaurants and there was a buzz in the air. 

“Friday night was the bigger night for Lismore businesses as people got into the socialising on the first day.

“A lot of the players don’t participate in sports regularly and only jump in and do the Masters Games once every two years, so they tend to let their hair out on the first night and take it easier on Saturday night.”

Mitch said that feedback from sports groups was that this year’s event was the “smoothest” running event yet.

“The weather played a big in that,” he said. “There was no wet weather, so the logistics went smoothly with the competition draws. 

“The coordination of sports went really well too and that was thanks to the local volunteers doing that. Without them and the support of people in various sports, there wouldn’t be a game. 

Mitch said he enjoyed watching the cricket at the Masters Games.

“The Cads team from Casino were 9 wickets down with one ball to go and batsman hit the ball over the boundary to win the game," he said

That was the highlight for me.

“They were the gold medal winners for cricket and beat a Queensland team in the final game – it was very exciting.”

For more information about the Lismore Masters Games, or give feedback about the event, visit https://www.lismoremastersgames.com.au/

Or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lismoremastersgames/