The University of Wollongong (UOW) will launch the Eastern University Games (EUG) on Friday, ahead of more than 3000 TAFE and university students converging on the city in July.
Students will do battle in seven sports, including badminton, indoor cricket and OzTag.
UOW OzTag captain Zachary Ellul said OzTag was the sport to watch at this year’s games.
“It’s one of the fastest growing sports, in our area it’s extremely popular. Especially south coast Illawarra, we’ve got a lot of teams who are winning at State Cup,” he said.
“I think this is our strongest team on paper yet, so hopefully we can produce that on the field.”
In 2011, UOW students participating in the games were accused of ‘unacceptable alcohol-related behavioural issues,’ and were banned from the next games. Five years on, the games are back in Wollongong and are expected to inject $2m into the Illawarra economy.
‘‘A really important thing to note is it’s not just the hotels who receive benefit, the restaurants, the bars, the clubs were extremely successful last time – and certainly during the quieter months of the year they were having some of their best nights of the year,” Destination Wollongong General Manager Mark Sleigh told The Illawarra Mercury.