Gold Coast Suns extend Mackay Regional Council partnership until 2026

The Gold Coast Suns’ venture into Mackay will not end anytime soon, with the council renewing its partnership with the AFL club for the coming years. Read how the region stands to benefit.

The Gold Coast Suns’ venture into Mackay will not end anytime soon, with the council renewing its partnership with the AFL club for another four years.

The new agreement will take the partnership to 2026 and focuses on developing the sport in the region and building brand exposure for the council.

Since it began in 2019, the Suns have played three AFLW games at Great Barrier Reef Arena, started a Suns pathway academy, as well as other coaching opportunities for youth in and out of school.

AFL Mackay has developed four women’s players who went on to play for the Suns in Lauren Bella, Emma Pittman, Wallis Randell and Alana Gee.

The Kool Beanz early learning centre near Harrup Park is a product of the Gold Coast Suns’ partnership with Mackay Regional Council. Picture: Kool Beanz Academy

The partnership goes beyond football however, the most recent part of this the Kool Beanz Suns new early learning centre opposite Harrup Park.

Commercially the council has used the Suns platform to generate brand exposure during both AFL and AFLW, that included promotion of council initiatives such as Mackay Waterfront and Hooked on Mackay.

The renewed partnership means there will be an AFLW match in Mackay for the next four years.

Suns chief executive officer Mark Evans said the club was thrilled to continue the arrangement, excited for the upcoming game at Great Barrier Reef Arena in mid-September, and pleased the club has helped Mackay’s brand awareness, tourism and business sector.

“We’ve made Mackay our second home for our AFLW team and have had great support from the region every time we visit,” Mr Evans said.

“We’re committed to bringing marquee AFLW matches to Great Barrier Reef Arena and continuing to grow women’s football in the region, which has seen a 50 per cent participation increase since 2018.”

Alana Gee is the latest success story out of Mackay for the Gold Coast Suns. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The new partnership will allow the council to continue advertising the region through the Suns’ website, the AFLW uniform and at matches at Metricon Stadium.

Mayor Greg Williamson said the events were “invaluable” in improving the liveability and livelihood of the Mackay region.

He hoped the training camps and athlete and coach sponsorship programs would help grow on the “success stories” already to come out of Mackay.

“We are confident that the continuation of this partnership will only help to inspire more young people to pursue their dreams of a career in AFL,” Mr Williamson said.