Sport Focus, in conjunction with La Trobe University, Federation University and Griffith University, is giving central Victorians the opportunity to have their say on how the community can benefit from hosting the prestigious event.

The team behind the project has identified that in the past there's been similar scale sports events that were anticipated to create lasting legacies, but ultimately fell short in providing meaningful legacies within their respective communities.

Currently Bendigo is due to host basketball and wheelchair basketball (3x3), cycling (track and para track), lawn bowls and para lawn bowls, netball, squash, table tennis and para table tennis, and triathlon.

Sport Focus is encouraging the public to complete a survey about their hopes, ideas and concerns for the Games.

The online survey is open to residents of Bendigo and surrounding areas and it does not require personal or sensitive information from participants.

The questions focus on participant views about the potential sporting legacies, impacts, and challenges, as well as the opportunities for realising sporting legacies.

The information collected will be analysed by the research team looking for key themes and areas for action.

The insights will be delivered back to Sports Focus, providing an evidence base to prioritise their efforts in supporting sporting clubs within Bendigo and central Victoria to manage impacts of the event, while securing long-lasting legacies for community sport.

The survey is now open at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Bendigo2026 and will close on March 21.

Anyone with an interest in local community sport is encouraged to complete the survey, whether they are a current participant or volunteer, someone who's participated in the past, someone who has family members that participate, or anyone who would love to be participating but for various reasons may not be at the moment.

READ MORE: Catch up on the latest local sport news

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