Beautiful Barossa set for 2023 Think! Road Safety SA Country Championships

By SANFL Media

The State’s best country footballers will feature in the Barossa next month for the 2023 Think! Road Safety SA Country Football Championships.

Around 250 players, and a further 200-plus officials, from regional leagues across the State will descend on the Barossa region from July 8-9 to represent their zone in matches at Nuriootpa and Angaston ovals.

The Round 12 Hostplus SANFL League regional match will also be a significant attraction, with Central District to host Adelaide in the Bulldogs’ regional zone at Nuriootpa Oval on Saturday afternoon.

SANFL Head of Community Football Shawn Ford said the Country Championships not only provides an opportunity to showcase the State’s best country footballers, but also would be a major tourism boost for the region.

“The country championships are much more than a footy carnival – it’s one of the largest regional sporting events on the SA calendar, providing a fantastic social and economic boost for the entire Barossa community,” Mr Ford said.

“The Championships showcase and celebrates all the great things we love about country footy and leaves a lasting legacy for everyone involved.”

Mr Ford also acknowledged the continuing support of the Country Championships’ naming rights partner, Think! Road Safety, for Community Football in South Australia.

“SANFL has been a strong and committed road safety advocate for many years and the Country Championships event is a vital platform to increase awareness and drive home the vital message and education about road safety to our football community,” she said.

“Without our valuable partnership with Think! Road Safety, events such as the Country Championships would not be possible.”

The Barossa Council Mayor, Bim Lange OAM, said the benefits of hosting the SA Country Football Championships, including the Central v Adelaide Hostplus SANFL League match, were plentiful.

“It means a lot as far as the Council and our community is concerned,” Mayor Lange said.

“Events like this are the result of investment as part of our generational plan to upgrade all of our sport facilities. The SA Country Championships will bring visitors into our region so they can hopefully stay into the school holidays and enjoy our premium wines and our food.

“Along with that, the outcomes of health, well-being and connection associated with sport in the Barossa are very strong, so the community gets right behind these sorts of events.

“We are really excited about the opportunity it brings for our region and we appreciate SANFL and everyone who has been planning this with us because it has been a great partnership.”

The SA Country Championships will see male and female representative teams from six regional zones – Central, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula, South East, Northern and Southern Districts – compete across the weekend.

South East will be hoping to defend its 2022 crown in the men’s championships, while Southern Districts will be seeking back-to-back glory after taking out its second women’s championships last year.

Online tickets for the event are now on sale via the SANFL website.

Every match from the carnival this year will be exclusively live streamed for FREE on SANFL Now

The Central District v Adelaide Hostplus SANFL League match in Nuriootpa commences at 2:30pm and will be live streamed for subscribers on SANFL Now.