A partnership between the cities of Albury and Wodonga is a sensible plan that most in this community would agree with, but the problem was always going to be selling that idea to others.
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A Wodonga cricket centre of excellence should have been the first big ticket item as part of the “two cities, one community” initiative designed to bring the cities together.
But one look at the funding breakdown shows there is clearly still a state divide when it comes to sport.
Of the $1.15 million allocated so far, just $50,000 comes from north of the border, from Cricket NSW.
In a way this makes sense.
As Australians we love a good contest, especially when there is an opponent on the sporting arena.
Most offices on the Border would have their own Victorian v NSW rivalries, which certainly extends to the cricket field when the Bushrangers play the Blues.
Cricket Victoria and Cricket NSW have good reasons to look after their own.
But as we in this region know, state boundaries do not mean communities are clearly split.
The best way to foster the development of talented junior cricketers in Albury is to give them the opportunity to train at the best facilities in Wodonga.
A 10-minute drive compared to an hour and a half to Wagga makes a huge difference to parents.
It seems very unlikely Cricket NSW would turn down the opportunity to play a quality cricketer from Albury because he or she happened to train in Wodonga.
A Cricket NSW representative sent a tweet in response to The Border Mail’s story on the training centre on Tuesday, saying it was policy to only award $200,000 grants to facilities in NSW.
The decision to award less money to the Wodonga training centre certainly fits in with that policy, but it is a policy that is short-sighted when it comes to communities based on state borders.
They should be focusing their decision-making on how to best service the young cricketers in their state, no matter the geographical location of the training centre.
