Cobden, Mortlake Recreation Reserves plan gift meetings in October 2023

The Cobden Gift would be held on Saturday, October 15, followed by the Mortlake Gift on Sunday the 16th to open the Victorian Athletics League's 2023/24 season.

Cobden Recreation Reserve president Craig Dwyer said the idea was presented to both his and Mortlake Recreation Reserve's committees by Terang athlete Jacob Densley.

"He asked if we'd be interested in putting a double-header event on the same weekend to attract a bit of interest and a bit of a boost for the local economies," Dwyer said. "We were obviously quite interested in what we were hearing."

Dwyer said the events had gotten the tick of approval from the Victorian Athletics League.

"They've got the vacancy for that weekend," he said. "That was sorted out early days and it's just a matter of the final intricacies..."

Dwyer believes the dual events would provide an economic boost to both towns and show off their respective facilities.

"There is a lot of improvements about the place, a new entrance being put on, solar panels, we're looking at doing some sub-surface irrigation," he said of the Cobden Recreation Reserve.

He said the Cobden Gift wasn't yet a polished product, with his committee still working with the reserve's respective user groups on finer details, with sponsorship also to be worked through.

"It's highly likely that weekend is a goer," he said. "We're looking forward to hopefully getting the local communities involved in it. It falls right in between the footy and cricket season, that's our aim and if we can make it a winner from the get go, hopefully we can make it a bit of a tradition but let's get the first one right."

The new double-header would complement Warrnambool and Terang's similar fixture, with back-to-back meetings giving athletes added incentive to attend by getting two hit-outs on the same weekend. The Warrnambool-Terang Gifts ran on the weekend of December 3-4 last year.