Gabba to become ‘spiritual home’ of Olympic and Paralympic Games athletes

The Gabba has long being criticised for not having a soul – that may be about to change.

Australian Olympic champion Natalie Cook chats with teenage BMX star Holyee Jackson about her new program which will help fund Olympic athletes. Picture: Jasmine Ellem

The push is on for the essential but often ignored legacy the 2032 Olympics must leave for Brisbane – a Queensland sports museum.

Former Olympic champion Natalie Cook on Wednesday launched the Green and Gold Athletes fundraising program for Olympic athletes in partnership with the Queensland Cricketers Club which will make the Gabba the “spiritual home’’ for athletes leading up to the 2032 Olympics.

Five time Olympian Cook, who once sold pies and walked on hot coals to raise money for her campaigns, finished her career $300,000 in debt and is attempting to soften the financial blow for gifted Olympic hopefuls who will now have a venue to call home and raise funds at.

A push is on to have a Queensland sports museum included at the Gabba as a legacy of the 2032 Olympics.

As part of its commitment to the Games and beyond the Queensland Cricketers Club chief executive Lachlan Furnell will soon meet with Queensland deputy premier Steven Miles where they will canvas the excellent and long overdue concept of a Gabba based Queensland sports museum to celebrate the Games and Queensland’s sporting history.

“He (Miles) is very interested in it because he wants to know it (the Gabba) is not going to be a white elephant,’’ Furnell said.

“We would love to see a sports museum in the new facility featuring everything that has happened in and around the Gabba.

“We have over $1 million in memorabilia which we would love to donate towards the museum. We get people every single week – last week there was a couple from Sussex – who want to see the Gabba but have no way to even get into the venue so they come to us.’’

A museum would add soul, spirit and history to a venue lacking character and would house the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame which exists in name only.

“History needs a place to call home,’’ Cook said.

“When you get in the QSport Hall of Fame you get a certificate but you are not on a wall. There would be no better place than the Gabba to leave the sporting legacy.”

Cook yesterday launched the green and gold athletes website and hoped to connect emerging athletes to business people in the way teenage Ipswich BMX star Holyee Jackson’s career has been backed by Jindalee real estate identity Michael Devlin.

“We are trying to ease the financial burden on athletes by connecting them with local business and corporate Australia.

“We will support athletes one at a time to keep them on the green and gold runway and teach them how to fundraise in their local area. That’s what I did. I sold pies, I did car washes and I retired $300,000 in debt and I don’t want anyone to go through that.’’

“The Cricketers Club effectively a clubhouse for our athletes who wear the green and gold. They can come here for a drink. We can have fundraising functions. It’s great.’’