The concept of establishing an Academy of Sport based in Mildura and servicing the Mallee region of Victoria, the Riverland region of South Australia and the South West region of New South Wales was floated in 1996 by Ian Smith and Allan Hassell who were at the time Coordnators of the Sunraysia Secondary School’s Sport Association.

Preliminary discussions and informal meetings took place with the then Executive Officer of the Mallee Sports Assembly, Alison Curry. These discussions also involved Rex Nottage (Manager, Mildura Basketball Association) and Ray Kilkenny (Mildura Lawn Tennis Club Professional). The concept was presented formally to the board of the Mallee Sports Assembly who then appointed a sub – committee consisting of Brendan Gledhill (Speedway Racing), Ian Sluiter (Softball) and Allan Hassell (SSSSA and Sunraysia Volleyball).

In 2001, the Mallee Sports Assembly appointed a steering committee to research the concept and to tackle the task of establishing the Academy.

This process began in the early 2000s before the inaugural Sunraysia Academy of Sport board consisting of Tony Jones (Chair), Trevor Larkins, Michael Allford, Carmel McKay (MSA Executive Officer), Ray Lyons (Mildura Rural City Council) and Allan Hassell was formed in 2002.  The steering committee then worked closely with the Victorian Institute of Sport ensuring adherence to the VIS Regional Academy of Sport (RAS) policy. 

The Sunraysia Academy Of Sport officially began operations in 2004 under the guidance of Executive Officer Robbie Coyle. Coyle was instrumental in securing $88,000 of grant funding through the Federal Government’s Department of Transport and Regional Services and in overseeing the process to select the foundation sports of Volleyball, Golf and Basketball. He also secured seed funding from the Victorian State Government ($20,000) and the NSW State Government and together, with members of the Board, attracted valuable sponsorship from local businesses.

In June 2007 the SAS received news that our Victorian State Government funding would be increased to $80,000 annually to match the funding received by the other Victorian Regional Academies of Sport. This allowed the academy to employ a full time Executive Officer and a part-time Manager of Programs.

This structure continued and was refined for the following 15 years however in 2020 the COVID-19 Pandemic hit the world and the sporting landscape totally changed. Come 2022 and the world is recovering from the pandemic, the Victorian Government have increased their support.

With this increased support the Sunraysia Academy of Sport is primed to grow and help our athletes back into elite sport for the coming years.