Bathurst High sits out opening tie of Astley Cup as Orange and Dubbo face off

The 100th year of the Astley Cup gets underway this Thursday with Orange High School playing host to Dubbo Senior College, while Bathurst has to wait another week to start their campaign when they host Orange.

While all three schools obviously want to win, taking out the cup in the century year of the competition is something everyone will crave to an even greater degree.

So when Bathurst has the chance to take notes on their rivals it shouldn't be considered a bad position to be in, according to BHS' cup co-ordinator Sarah Murray.

"We're really excited to start next week. I do feel like we have the advantage since we can sit back and see how the first tie pans out and then that'll help us plan accordingly

"We had our first presentation a couple of weeks ago where all the kids were given their team tracksuit and recognised for their contributions towards being involved in the 100th year of the Astley Cup.

"There's a real sense of community this year, especially with so many alumni reaching out to find out what we're playing on what days so they can come along to cheer us on.

"It's so nice to see those students from the past coming back to support our kids."

The celebrations for the Bathurst school will ramp up this Thursday morning during an assembly, where teams will be introduced.

The school will be doing everything in their power to make the 100th year of the Astley Cup the biggest and best yet.

"We're bringing some kids along with us to do some social media work and live streaming from the events," Murray said.

"We've got additional activities running as well. One of those will be Thursday afternoon, where we'll have an afternoon tea and have tours and a 'through the decades presentation'. Then on the Friday we'll be hosting a ball."

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