ants of Tom Thumb Lagoon, which once stretched north to Swan Street. Beaton Park in Gwynneville is home to Tennis Wollongong and the Leisure Centre with an athletics complex, indoor heated swimming pool, gymnasium and multipurpose sports hall.
Sport
The St George Illawarra Dragons represent the city in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The club was formed in a merger between the St. George Dragons and the Illawarra Steelers in 1999, and continues to play some home games at WIN Stadium. They won the 2010 NRL Grand Final against the Sydney Roosters. Prior to the merger the Illawarra Steelers had represented the area in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership and NRL between 1982 and 1998. Rugby league has been played in Wollongong since 1911, and the area has produced at least 41 international players. At the local level league continues to have a strong following with a number of teams playing in the Illawarra Rugby League and Group 7 Rugby League competitions.
The city does not have a major cricket team representing it. Ireland captain Trent Johnston grew up in Dapto and played for New South Wales before leaving for Ireland. Australian internationals and New South Wales players Brett and Shane Lee were raised in Oak Flats and played for the local cricket club Oak Flat Rats.
The Illawarriors are a rugby union club based in the Illawarra, who contest the Shute Shield NSW club competition. The club play some of their home games at WIN Stadium.
The Wollongong Hawks basketball team play in the National Basketball League and are the only NBL club (as of 2009/10) to have competed in every season since the league's inception in 1979. Home games are played at the WIN Entertainment Centre, known as "The Sandpit" in the NBL
Wollongong F.C. is the region's football (soccer) club who compete in the New South Wales Premier League. Scott Chipper field, a Wollongong native who became a professional football player in
