Events will be held at Cobram Sports Stadium, Barooga Recreational Reserve, Cobram’s Apex Park and Cobram Showgrounds with swimming events held in Yarrawonga on Tuesday.
Events are broken into four categories, including indoor, track and field, swimming and team sports.
Individual sports include table tennis, darts, basketball throw, track races, shot put, long jump, tennis ball throw and the traditional four swimming strokes of freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly.
Team sports include ten-pin bowling, bocce, soccer, tennis, basketball and croquet, to name just a few.
Thirty-three teams from across the country will take part, including PALS Panthers, Murray Mahics, Shepp Access Legends and the Swan Hill and District Tigers.
Moira Shire’s PALS Panthers team won the shield in 2019 alongside the Arrows SA team.
Volunteers from social and community organisations, as well as schools, will help with the week-long event.
Since the original event in Mildura in north-west Victoria in 1986, the event has grown over the years.
Still, the core aim remains the same — to promote a safe and inclusive environment in which people with disabilities can compete against their peers in a range of sporting activities to promote active, ultimately positive social interactions for those who are often forgotten by society.
For participants, the benefits to their personal growth have proven enormous.
Competitors learn and develop their physical strength and fitness by taking part in various sporting activities.
The social events — a core part of the Games — include dinners and discos, giving participants the chance to develop their social skills, meet other people and make new friends.
Like the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, The Tri-State Games rewards winning competitors with gold, silver and bronze medals.
Unlike the Olympics, participants gain points for their teams, with the team with the most points winning the much-desired perpetual shield.
Moira Shire Council chair of the panel of administrators John Tanner and Berrigan Shire Mayor Julia Cornwell McKean have expressed their enthusiasm for the Games and are excited about what the Games can do for the region.
Mr Tanner noted that the event, which includes a rest day for participants and guests to enjoy the town, will help stimulate the area.
“Beyond the competition, these games foster an environment of inclusivity and support while simultaneously contributing economic benefits to our community,” he said.
“Athletes, accompanied by their teams and supporters, converge from diverse locations, injecting life into our area.”
