The Central Coast Bears are a proposed rugby league club on the Central Coast of Australia. There is a movement for a return to first-grade Rugby League for the once proud club, with the North Sydney Bears moving to Gosford (on the Central Coast, New South Wales) and becoming the Central Coast Bears. The Bears bid committee is currently in the process of lobbying the NRL for inclusion as the next expansion team. They are headed up by Perry Lopez and Greg Florimo and has the corporate backing of a number of local Central Coast and some North Shore businesses. The proposed team would play 11 games in Gosford and 1 game at North Sydney Oval against Manly in the annual Heritage Round. Prominent rugby league personalities who have publicly backed the club include Phil Gould, Andrew Johns and Peter Sterling while support has also come from as high up as Federal Shadow Treasurer and North Sydney MP Joe Hockey.
The Central Coast Bears have initiated programs with local juniors and schools playing rugby league in the region and have been a big hit with the kids. Both major political parties support the Central Coast Bears bid, with Labour supporting the bid by granting $100,000 for the Bears to build their business case bid document, and Liberal party supporting the bid by promising to acquire land at Mt. Penang, Central Coast, NSW to build a state of the art, Sports Center of Excellence should the Liberals win the upcoming election.
With weekly membership drives and ongoing community involvement, the Central Coast Bears are targeting entry into the NRL by 2015.
Read more about Central Coast Bears: Catchment, Junior Participation, Corporate Partnerships, Membership
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