Dubbo's Lady Culter Sporting Precinct is set to be a hive of activity over the next three days as the 2026 NSW Touch Junior State Cup Northern Conference returns to Dubbo.
The NSW Touch Junior State Cup brings together junior teams from across the northern half of the state including Sydney Metropolitan, Western NSW, Northern NSW, Central Coast, Mid North Coast and North Coast of NSW.
This major event is set to attract over 10,000 visitors to the region with an economic impact for Dubbo and surrounding towns and villages estimated at over $8.5M*. Dubbo Showground is also being utilised as a caravan park for the three-days to help accommodate the influx of visitors to the Dubbo region.
Dubbo Regional Council (DRC) Mayor Josh Black said it was the fourth year Dubbo has hosted the NSW Touch Junior State Cup, and we are keen for it to return in the future.
Council has recently made a submission for the next three-year contract for the event.
"Dubbo is a popular destination for major sporting events having just hosted four major state sporting events already this summer."
"Multi-day sporting events such as the NSW Touch Junior State Cup provide a major boost to the regional economy supporting a wide variety of local businesses," Clr Black said.
NSW Touch CEO Duncan Tweed said this year they have again seen the number of teams entered for the competition grow.
"We have 222 teams converging on Dubbo this weekend to compete in the Northern Conference of the NSW Touch Junior State Cup," Mr Tweed said.
"The NSW Touch Junior State Cup is one of the largest junior sporting events in Australia and the continued year on year growth with team nominations highlights the popularity of the sport and the increased participation in touch football in NSW."
NSW Touch Junior State Cup is a free event and spectators are welcome. Games will be played on Friday and Saturday with finals on Sunday. The winning teams from this event will progress to the Junior State Cup Finals Series in Sydney in March 2026.
The event was secured under DRC's Event Attraction Program and strongly supported by Dubbo Touch Association.
The event is also supported by local businesses Westside Hotel, Intersport, Techni Clean, Inland Petroleum, Ballimore Welding, Redi.e Security and Belgravia Leisure.
Dubbo residents are advised that road closures will be in place around Lady Cutler Sporting Precinct during the three-day event and there may be some traffic congestion at various times throughout the event. For more information visit www.dubbo.nsw.gov.au/nswtouch for full details on changes to traffic during the event.
*Tourism Research Australia
