Things work a little differently in Tamworth to what our city counterparts do.

In the metropolitan areas, bouldering is dominated by adult recreation. In Tamworth – the T4 League provides the central framework and the adult recreation works in and around it.

There were 46 rock climbing gyms in Australia in 2015. In 2025, there are 110+ and the vast majority are boulder only facilities. The AOC has quoted 300,000+ participants Aus wide. 

73% of all rock climbing gyms built in the US in 2024 were boulder only facilities. The vast majority are located in densely populated metropolitan areas both here and in the US.

However, youth are not the major market.  In fact, they are a minor segment as the lions share lives in adult recreation.  

It’s the polar opposite in Tamworth. 

Youth form the dominant sector of participation plus there’s also a healthy adult population.  There’s a big difference though – youth are ONLY in structured sport.  Recreation is available only for the adults and whilst this may appear strange to the city gyms, its works extremely well for a range of different reasons.