Games

Feature events of the 2024 NQ Games included a National invitational Taekwondo event featuring at Trinity Bay State High School, and an U19 QLD State Championship Boxing event in Edmonton. Mareeba also hosted a multi-day Gymnastics event that was heavily attended. Due to these large events, almost 70% of all participants in 2024 were Women or Girls!

VIP Guests included QLD Minister for Sport Michael Healy, Cairns Regional Council Mayor Amy Eden, and NQ Games Ambassador Grant ‘Scooter’ Patterson, who would go on to pick up 2x Paralympic Medals later in the Year at Paris 2024.

Preparation for the 2024 event was hampered by the flooding to the Cairns and surrounding region during the aftermath of ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper in December of 2023. Jasper would cause $645 million dollars in damage, mostly as a result of flooding across Cairns and particularly the areas North and Directly to the West of Cairns – Jasper was the wettest tropical cyclone in Australian history. A large majority of sports clubs were impacted via cancelled competitions, infrastructure damage, or losing volunteers as residents spent time during the clean-up. Despite the wet weather, The Games were a success on the back of terrific support from Cairns Regional Council and the events saw $1.05 million dollars injected into the local economy.

Nevertheless, nearly 2000 athletes participated across multiple weekends (as sports became rained out or waterlogged) and the Queensland Academy of Sport’s “You for 2032” team was a feature at multiple venues in the lead-up and during the event looking for the first time for talent ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.