Sports News

Hook, Line and Sinker

Run barra run

Pat Curran with his recent catch from Turkey Beach.

Some nice tailor are beginning to show up on the beaches and headlands. Catches are generally not big at this early stage of the season but the quality has been quite good. A tailor must be 30cm long to be kept and there is a bag limit of 20.

Around Brunswick and Byron Bay the mackerel have been as good as some people can recall, but south of those spots they have been a little patchy. There have been a few hook-ups off the south wall at Ballina.

The whiting were again quite plentiful on the new moon. They will be quiet now until a few days before the full moon.

Those chasing fish on plastics have been getting a few flathead and school jew.

Quite a number of anglers are now planning their annual sojourn to catch the 'run-off' barra, which are monster fish who feed on nutrient rich run off from heavy monsoonal rains in northern Australia.

Lure fishing the mouths of drains and rock bars can produce fish up to 25kg.

Good spots such as the Macarthur River, South Alligator, East Alligator and others can be reached in 3-4 days driving, bitumen all the way.

Shady Camp, one of the top spots, has only 40kms of gravel.

This weekend give the estuaries a go from 8am to about 11am or if you're a night person 8.30pm to about midnight.

Call of the Loon with Laurie Axtens

Don't let gonads suck you dry

It was with youthful naivety that I wandered into the Lismore Council Chambers and was shocked to listen to a debate and watch the vote open the way for the loss of democratic control of our sporting lands.

The great majority of Lismore's sports fields are situated on community owned lands. Those lands have in the past been classified as 'community' lands and this classification means that individual grounds and practice nets can be leased to different clubs for a maximum of five years at a time and no more.

The 'community' designation ensured that Council could not lease out sections of the community's land for much longer than the tenure of one council.

The community designation stops sporting groups with diminishing participation rates from lording it over other sports whose numbers are growing and require additional venues.

Let me explain.

Lets say that there is a traditional sport called 'gonad' which leases one of the major fields from Council. However over the years gonad has diminished in popularity, the numbers of juniors playing the game has declined and they only require a third of the fields that they used to. Taking up the slack is a new game that I shall call 'carbuncle'.

Now carbuncle has a growing number of juniors and requires more fields to play their game. Under the traditional arrangements, leases on 'community' land turn over quickly and this facilitates a smooth transition of leased lands from gonad to carbuncle.

This all sounds fine doesn't it, and it was all fine, until Council recently voted to reclassify Lismore Park from 'community' to 'operational'.

Under the new 'operational' tag Council can sell leases for as many years as they see fit and in fact they can actually sell off the land altogether. So lets just say that they offer a 99-year lease, or worse still, they sell the land outright to a gonad club.

All of a sudden gonads field tenure doesn't pass naturally on to carbuncle, in fact carbuncle clubs are forced to sublet the grounds from the old gonad establishment. The new arrangement basically allows the old establishment to prey on the new club and in essence we see gonad sucking carbuncle dry. A disgusting prospect you must concede.

The reclassification of Lismore Park (ie Oakes, Crozier, Blair, Heaps and Humbly Ovals) to operational is a very dangerous precedent. We could find ourselves locked into a number of arrangements much worse than simple gonad sucking as much larger business interests could basically buy up community land. Don't let it happen!

The reclassification proposal for Lismore Park will be on display at Council for the next 28 days, during which time the community can make submissions regarding this change. I urge every sporting club to do so.

Caught on tape

Triathlete Kate Nind has her ankle taped.

Leading Lismore sports physiotherapist Karl Sprogis is the headline act for this year's NSW Sport and Recreation education program.

Karl will be kick starting the sports education program on March 1 by conducting the popular Elasto StrapSmart and Advanced Sports Taping workshops. The two workshops cover the techniques of taping the ankle, knee, thumb, finger, shoulder, elbow and foot.

The workshops have been designed and developed by Sports Medicine Australia and are an excellent way to ensure club members and participants are kept safe on the field, at training and on the sidelines.

"These workshops are comprehensive and vital for anyone who is responsible for athlete care," said NSW Sport and Recreation North Coast regional coordinator Lyn Larsen. "A working knowledge of taping and massage will help to ensure your players are spending more time on the field playing than off the field with injuries. While the onus for providing safer sport is generally placed on the sporting club, we are encouraging everyone to take it upon themselves to ensure that their sport is as safe as possible," Lyn said. "Everyone involved in sport from parents and players right through to club officials should know the basics of sports medicine and these workshops are a great place to start."

Other sports medicine workshops to be conducted include Sports First Aid, Speed for Sport and Sports Management Courses.

For more information on the North Coast sports education program, visit the website www.dsr.nsw.gov.au or phone the North Coast Regional Office on 6687 7168.

Hockey sign-on

North Lismore Hockey Club will be holding sign-on days over the next month for interested players. The sign-on days will be held at the Italo Club and Humbly Oval across from Lismore Shopping Square. All interested players are welcome.

Norths sign-on schedule:

Friday, Feb 18: Italo Club 6-8pm.

Sunday, Feb 20: Humbly Oval 10am-1pm.

Sunday, March 6: Humbly Oval 10am-1pm.

Friday, March 11: Italo Club 6-8pm.

Sunday, March 13: Humbly Oval 10am-1pm.

For further information phone Christian Booker on 6622 7040.

Lennox break a winner

Surfing NSW has selected Lennox Head as the one of only five venues in NSW for this year's National Coaching Accreditation Scheme (NCAS).

The renowned right point break draws surfers from all over the world and it was hardly surprising that the local surf spot got the nod.

"NCAS approved courses are recognised internationally and we're glad to have won the chance to run the course here in Lennox," said NSW Sport and Recreation development officer Teena Reeves.

The course will cover the necessary theory components of the NCAS and the Level 1 Sports Specific requirements of Surfing Australia. Topics such as basic psychology, surfing injuries and prevention, physical conditioning, role of the coach, basic instructional methods and many more will be presented throughout the program.

NSW Sport and Recreation have teamed up with Surfing NSW to offer the accredited Level 1 course from March 19-20.

"This is a great opportunity for community members interested in developing their surfing skills further or for those interested in pursuing a career within the industry," said Teena.

Pre-enrolment is essential and interested participants are encouraged to enrol early as places are limited.

For further information or to make a booking phone 6687 7168.

Growing culture

The Goonellabah Physical Culture Club has started the year with a bang, gaining new enrolments at an unprecedented speed.

"The music and choreography is really funky these days," said teacher Jaime Whittingham. "I particularly like the work for the 8-9 year olds. I love teaching this syllabus - it's so much fun and that might explain the rush on enrolments."

Teachers Jenna Connors and Margaret Webster are also very happy and enjoying getting their teeth into this most challenging part of the year.

Teacher of the 3-7 year olds, Donna Lowden, has been overwhelmed by the response to her classes, although she was not at all surprised.

"What little girl doesn't love to dance?," said Donna. "And Physie is a great combination of healthy exercise and fun dance."

New members are very welcome and beginners of all ages are especially encouraged to come along. For more details phone Lisa on 6622 5223.

Mexican Morse in Modified showdown

Stuart Herne will contest the V8 Dirt modified title in Lismore this Saturday night.

The presence of Victorian champion Tim Morse in this Saturday's Quantum Racing Industries NSW V8 Dirt Modified Title at Lismore Speedway has had everyone talking.

In a long awaited re-match Morse will come up against Australian No 1, local hero Mark Robinson, and speed demon Stuart Herne, who he knocked off in this year's Victorian championship.

"Its good to get Morsey up here," said Herne. "You know that he won't settle for second, and that's why we have had many memorable moments while racing at Lismore."

Mark Robinson was more confident that he could out drive the Mexican on his home turf.

"Tim has been brought back a peg or two since the Australian Title. Even though he got us at the Victorian title, it will be a different story once we get him at Lismore," Mark said.

Held over 30 laps, the winner of this prestigious event will wear the NSW No 1 on his V8 Dirt Modified for the following season.

Support classes on the night are very impressive with production cars, AMCAs, club sedans, stockers, streeters, 4 cylinders and juniors.

The production cars in particular have an impressive nomination list as teams prepare for their own Australian Title to be held here at Lismore over Easter.

Golf with Stan Bendall

Interdistrict

The Northern Rivers District Golf Association (NRDGA) will be defending the BL Millar Cup when they travel to Byron to play the Mid North Coast this weekend. The interdistrict encounter involves three teams; a juniors, a colt side and an open team.

NRDGA teams are:

Open Mens - David Hobday, Brendon Griffiths, Paul Clark and Matt Crandell.

Colts - Luke Henwood, Andrew Kirkman, Brenton Marshall and Brendo Griffiths.

Juniors - Daniel Kelly, Drew Hannigan, Joe Chilcott and Daniel Morgan.

Ladies Pro-Am

Melanie Holmes-Smith recorded an excellent 4 under par 69 to take out the second annual Ladies Pro-Am at Coraki last weekend.

The $15,000 win is a big reversal of form for the lady from Barooga. The former New Zealand amateur champion had a lean year last year, finishing 57th on the ALPG Order of Merit. Her last victory was in 2003 when she helped the Australian Tasman Cup team take out the New Zealand Strokeplay Championships.

Last Sunday Melanie beat some big name players, including US tour cardholder Lorraine Lambert, and last year's winner Nikki James from Mullumbimby.

Nikki finished equal second alongside West Australian Dana Lacey.

Most of the 40 players who contest the Coraki Pro-Am now move onto Royal Pines for their next championship.

Siblings blitz Sandgate

State champion, Takashi Watanabe, throws Jim Cassel during a bout in Lismore late last year.

Lismore's PCYC Judo Club has returned another excellent set of results from the Sandgate Tournament in Queensland and the NSW team try-outs in Sydney recently.

Local Under 10s siblings Nicolas and Kymberley Casey-Sams dominated their opposition in the Under 35kg division, taking out the title for their gender during the Sandgate Tournament. Kymberley also picked up second in the open weight division for her age. In each of the 20 bouts bar one the Casey-Sams pinned their opponent to pick up the maximum of 10 points for the bout.

Meanwhile, in Sydney at the NSW trials, Takashi Watanabe overwhelmed all comers to take out first place in the Under 20 division and in the open men's. Ashleigh Foley also faired well, coming second in her division, only being beaten by the current national champion.

Netball coaches jogged along

Organisers of next weekend's netball coaching course in Lennox Head are encouraging would-be coaches to sign up ASAP.

"Pre-enrolments are essential and interested participants are encouraged to enrol in the next couple of days," said NSW Sport and Recreation development officer Teena Reeves. "Enrolments close this Friday, February 18, so get in quick."

The course, which is the brainchild of Netball NSW and NSW Sport and Recreation, offers Northern Rivers residents the opportunity to obtain their Level 1 accreditation in netball coaching.

The course, which will be held at the Lake Ainsworth Sport and Recreation Centre, will be conducted over two days from February 26-27.

"This course is intended for those persons who are keen to acquire a broader background in the skills of coaching and player requirements, predominantly at a junior level, although there is application to all coaching situations," Teena said.

Topics such as rules of netball, program planning, netball skills and many more will be presented throughout the program.

"Netball is amongst the top three highest participation sports for children in NSW, with over 82,400 participants," Teena said. "This is a great opportunity for community members interested in developing their netball skills further or for those interested in supporting junior development in their local community."

For further information or to make a booking phone 6687 7168.

Indigenous cricket on the rise

The Boomerangs 3rd Grade cricket team (rear l-r) Cory Roberts, Caleb Binge, Lawrence Mercy, Chris Chapman and Nathan Kelly, (middle l-r) Steven Roberts, Gary Williams, Laurie Mercy, Andrew Hammond, Reece Roma and Brian Roberts, (front l-r) Mark Roberts, John Housia, Chris Binge, Angus Binge, John Roberts and Mitch King, with Steven Roberts (front).

Story & photo: John McPherson

What started as an idea during a casual conversation between a couple of mates last winter has quickly turned into Lismore's newest cricket team - the Lismore Boomerangs.

Angus Binge and Laurie Mercy wanted to find something active to do during the rugby league off-season, particularly for the younger members of their community. As a result they formed the Lismore Boomerangs Cricket Club.

The venture has proved so popular that they have quickly outgrown the one public net they use in East Lismore on training nights.

From the outset the club, drawing its membership from the Bundjalung community, found that interest in the team was very high.

Team captain Angus Binge told The Echo that the club received an initial boost from a number of sponsors, allowing it to field a team in the LDCA 3rd Grade competition this season.

"The NSW Cricket Association came on board by donating an equipment kit to the team," Angus said. "They have been very helpful, as have the Kyogle Cricket Club, who allowed us to play this year under their banner. Next year we will be looking to establish ourselves as a stand alone club, fielding teams in both 3rd and 4th grades."

The club policy is to develop the junior ranks, with senior players undergoing nationally accredited coaching and umpiring courses.

"This will ensure that we give the kids the best coaching and advice we can and will help greatly in the growth of the sport within the community," Angus said. "We are looking to form a relationship with a Lismore based club that will allow us access to a properly maintained net facility when not being used by that club. Originally we benefited from sponsorship from the NSW Cricket Association, the Housing Commission, City Toyota, the Koori Mail and DOCS, but for the club to expand we will need further sponsorship."

In time the club may contribute to the proud list of Australian Aboriginal cricketers who were amongst the leading players in their day, such as Johnny Mullagh, Jacky Marsh, Eddie Gilbert and Jason Gillespie.

Club secretaries that can assist in the Lismore Boomerang's search for appropriate training facilities should phone Angus Binge on 6686 1999 or Reece Roma on 6621 8099.

L J Hooker League

Ballina Bears captain/coach Andrew Gordon has recently won selection in the Indigenous NSW cricket team to play in Alice Springs next weekend. Andrew led his team to a good position against Workers Club last weekend.

Ballina Bears will be keen to knock up a quick lead against Workers and go for an outright on Fripp Oval this weekend.

The Bears slipped through Workers on a sticky wicket for a meagre 93 last weekend, were 1-44 in reply and looked set for first innings points. Although Souths scored quickly against the Workers attack last week, usually the men in maroon are difficult to get away. If the young Bears can score quickly from the outset they could pick up the maximum points. The Bears were very unlucky when they fell 9 runs short of Lennox last game - that win would have lifted them into the top four. The Bears last match of the preliminary rounds is against the table topping premiers Souths and they will go into that match without captain/coach Andrew Gordon, so an outright this match is essential for their finals hopes.

All of the other matches were washed out and will be played as one-day matches. Souths play Lennox at Saunders Oval, a match Lennox need to win to maintain their spot in the top four. Brothers go head to head with Alstonville for the wooden spoon. Norths Goonellabah RSL will need to fight to keep second position away from Tintenbar East Ballina and Casino Cavaliers will be hoping to make it back into finals contention when they take on Easts at Nesbitt Park.

The mod squad Workers' Under 11 softballer Stephane Curtis lets one fly from left-field. Behind her, Koryn Barret seems pleased with her efforts.

The big Dipper drops in

Robert 'Dipper' DiPierdomenico with Lismore Swans hardened junior Liam Visman of Casino.

Media personality and Auskick ambassador Robert 'Dipper' DiPierdomenico visited the region last Saturday to promote junior Australian Rules.

Dipper, who is a Brownlow medallist and five time Hawthorn premiership player of the year, visited the Lismore Swans Junior Aussie Rules sign-on day at Mortimer Oval to encourage younger players to take up Auskick.

Auskick is a variation on the traditional game, which promotes skills and teamwork for players four to 10 years of age.

Dipper was lured to Lismore after the Lismore Swans managed to take out every junior premiership on offer in the Far North Coast AFL last season.

The Swans are attracting players from Lismore, Casino, Kyogle and surrounding areas and with visits from legends such as Dipper, this trend is sure to continue.

Aussie Rules, although new to the region, is slowing becoming a major junior sport.

The next registration day will be held on February 27 at Lismore's Mortimer Oval from 10am. For further information phone Ron Visman on 6662 2516.