COULD a sports draft shape what future editions of the Astley Cup looks like?
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As the first round of the 2024 cup draws closer there's already talk about what next year's competition might look like - and we could be in for some big changes.
This year's edition will already be utilising a new point scoring system (which is being trialled over a two year period) and now as early as next year we could see three new sports being added to the program.
It's a proposal that's beginning to take shape and is set to be discussed during the cup, which is set to begin with Orange High School hosting Bathurst High School on June 13 and 14.
![Bathurst High School playing Dubbo during last year's Astley Cup. Picture by Nick Guthrie Bathurst High School playing Dubbo during last year's Astley Cup. Picture by Nick Guthrie](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/YpbCWLfGAstDHC22gJwdbm/1a39df8e-4ad5-4154-8fee-e77a13191491.jpeg/r0_477_8256_5137_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Bathurst High School principal Ken Barwick said the concept would be, at some point prior to the 2025 cup, schools would take turns to decide what gets added.
"It might be in 2025 that we have 11 sports instead of eight, and each school will have a chance to add a sport. That's not set in stone but it's a discussion that we're about to have," he said.
"The school that loses this year would get to choose the first sport, second place goes second, and the winner picks last.
"The other part of that which is being discussed is that of those three sports one would be for boys, one for girls and one mixed."
Orange will host Bathurst on June 13-14 before Dubbo gets their first tie under way two weeks later.
Dubbo is set to host Orange on June 27-28 then will head to Bathurst for the final round on July 3-4.