Issue 744
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sports News
|
|
(Left to right) Beau Paine (Department of Sport and Recreation) with the winners of The Echo Sporting Volunteers of the Year awards, Jan Saxby, Echo sales and marketing manager Heather Williams, Phil Newton, Maureen Taylor, Margaret Harding, Megan Chandler, Neil Raglus, Barry Saxby, Dudley Weir, Arthur Maloney and Tony Meldrum (Dept Sport and Rec). |
|
|
|
(Left to right) Lismore's Deputy Mayor Merv King, Echo Sales and marketing manager Heather Wiliams, Dept of Sport and Recreation Beau Paine, Echo Sporting Volunteer of the Year Arthur Maloney, and Tony Meldru, also of the Dept of Sport and Recreation. |
While Arthur Maloney may not pack a punch like Kostya Tszyu he has made a huge impact on boxing on the North Coast.
Last week Arthur was recognised for his selfless efforts when he was awarded with The Echo Sporting Volunteer of the Year award.
Amongst his many achievements Arthur has formed an amateur boxing club (Maloney's Glove Club) which trains out of a gym constructed on his Goonellabah property, trained and coached many young fighters over the years he has been involved in sport, been an integral part of the amateur boxing administration on the North Coast and an active fundraiser and organiser for amateur boxing.
The Northern Rivers Echo sporting volunteer of the year awards were a joint project of the NSW department of Sport and Recreation, Lismore City Council and supported by local businesses, Chandlers.
This was the inaugural year of the Awards and according to Echo sales and marketing manager a very successful project.
'The Echo is very pleased to have been involved in a project that recognises the enormous contribution that volunteers make to sport in the Northern Rivers area. We are very happy to be able to work on acknowledging the selfless work of volunteers and hopefully the awards will go on to be even bigger and better in the future,' Heather said.
Far North Coast Table Tennis have just completed an ace of a pennant season.
The three teams that competed in the South East Queensland Pennants championships, in A reserve, B and C grades, all made the finals.
The A reserve team of Joe Chen, Henning Hansen and Frederick Halen fought hard and played very good table tennis to go down narrowly to Brisbane 6-4.
Col Gradwell, Mike Jenkins, Andy Jackson and Warren Diggins had a sensational 6-1 victory over the Gold Coast in the B grade final.
In C grade Tony Coronakes, Geoff Simes and Jim Armstrong also had a solid 6-3 win over the Gold Coast.
Tony Coronakes has been doing exceptionally well recently. After just two years of competition play he has risen through the grades to win C grade and is presently lying in sixth place in the Far North Coast A grade competition.
North Coast Academy of Sport (NCAS) has announced the names of the successful athletes selected into its inaugural Ballina RSL Club NCAS Triathlon program.
Ballina RSL Club's sponsorship of the program has allowed the NCAS to bring together 12 of the north coast's best junior athletes. The squad members, aged between 13 and 19 years include:
Selection of the squad was based on performances at triathlon, swimming and running events over the previous 12 months, as well as a trials race held in conjunction with the Woolgoolga Triathlon held on October 15.
Justin Drew, from Lennox Head, is head coach of the new program. Drew is also head coach of the NSWIS Triathlon program, and one of only a few level three triathlon coaches nationally.
'By forming a squad of such talented athletes at this young age, and providing them with advanced triathlon coaching and modules in sports psychology, injury prevention and time management, we are providing them an excellent opportunity to advance to higher levels in triathlon,' Drew said.
The NSW Department of Sport and Recreation is promoting a Resistance Training Seminar to be held in Ballina next month.
Paul Haslam, a former Australian champion in Olympic weightlifting and two-time Mr Australia Bodybuilding champion will present the session.
The three-hour seminar is to be conducted at the Ballina Fair Swim and Gym on Saturday, November 17, from 9.30am until 12.30pm.
Haslam will guide participants through specific training methods, focusing on how correct lifting techniques can ensure more efficient use of time in the weight room.
Development Officer with the Department Tony Meldrum believes this is a great opportunity for fitness professionals on the North coast.
'This is an ideal opportunity for gym instructors, personal trainers, body builders or any person that wants to improve their strength or to gain more knowledge about weightlifting principles,' he said.
The $55 fee includes GST, gym entry and three hours of practical and theoretical information.
The seminar will also provide current fitness leaders with three continuing education credits.
For bookings, further details or application forms, phone 131302.
Families enjoy the Swimsafe program - a great way to get in shape and prepare for summer.
North Coast families are the winners in a formal partnership struck between the NSW Department of Sport and Recreation and the Cancer Council.
The Department's Swimsafe program is offering customers who enrol before December 7 the chance of owning their very own Cabana shade shelter in time for summer.
This great prize, valued at $160, is great for the pool, beach and picnics is provided courtesy of the Cancer Council New South Wales.
The Department's north coast Swimsafe Coordinator, Tony Meldrum, believes the program is of tremendous community benefit.
'Swimsafe helps highlight the importance of safety in and around the water - a message that we need to get across to as many families as possible,' Tony said.
'This includes children learning how to swim and survive, along with the importance of swimming with a friend. For parents, always remembering to supervise and being sunsmart are also key swimsafe messages,' he said.
'Our swimsafe program demonstrates the importance of all of these activities and can be accessed at most pools throughout our region this summer.'
Phone 131302 for details on your nearest swimsafe program.
The North Coast Academy of Sport (NCAS) Netball Squad is seeking talented junior athletes to trial for its 2001-02 squad.
Netballers from Tweed Heads to Laurieton who turn 14, 15 16 or 17 in 2002 are eligible to apply.
Preliminary trials will be held at Coffs Harbour on December 1 and Lismore on December 2. Trialists need only attend one of these days.
Based on the performances from the two preliminary trial days, 60 athletes will be invited to attend the final selection trials weekend to be held on December 8-9 at Alstonville.
Margaret Corbett, regional netball coach from the New South Wales Institute of Sport, will travel from Sydney to assist the NCAS program staff and head coach Tracey Robinson and oversee the final selections.
Once the final squad of 20 athletes is selected, they will enter a development program endorsed and supported by Netball NSW. They will receive high level skills coaching, along with athlete education services including sport psychology, sports medicine, nutrition, time management and public speaking. The Academy's goal is to assist its athletes to maximise their current potential so that they can then reach the next step in their sport.
Over the nine-month program, athletes will attend 10 training days and maintain an at-home program involving skills and fitness training.
NCAS is a non-profit, community-based organisation that is supported by its foundation sponsors, NSW Sport and Recreation and Southern Cross University.
Applications to attend the netball trials can be obtained from any north coast netball association, or downloaded from the Academy's website at www.ncas.org.au or by calling the Academy on 6620 3073. Applications close on Thursday, November 29.
Last Saturday 50 children aged 2-12 dived into the pool to raise money for Cancer Research.
Kerrie Wawn, a swimming teacher, organised a swimathon at the hydro pool at Caroona for the Nurse in a million entrant, Georgina Manson, the matron at Caroona. All money raised goes to cancer research.
'More than 3,000 laps were swum in total - congratulations to every child, they made a huge effort. I am proud of them all,' Kerrie said.
'Most of the children swam for someone in their family or a friend who have had cancer. Every child had a great time,' she said.
Some of the children had sponsorship for a set number of laps and others received straight donations from sponsors and simply set out to see how many laps they could complete in their allotted half hour.
Rachel Fredericks swam 132 laps, Brendan Hopkins raised the most money ($162) and three year old Nathan Buckley-Thirkell swam 20 laps and raised $82.
The following local businesses supported the swimathon by providing goodies for the participants:
Ballina Toyworld, KFC Lismore, Lismore Nissan, Southern Cross Credit Union, Australia Post, Telstra, Summerland Credit Union, Rous Water, Be Active Australia, MacDonalds, Domino's pizza, K Mart.
The children who have been participating in the recent disabled sports program with some of the tools for their new trade. The program was organised by Jak Carroll and run at Southern Cross University, Lismore.
Nine-year-old Josh Smith shows his basketball skills as he goes for a two-pointer.
Leanne Smith believes her children have learnt an incredible amount from a new sporting program.
Leanne's two sons, Cameron 10, and Josh 9 were two of the children involved in the children's disabled sport group who have been learning a variety of sports at Southern Cross University in recent months.
'It's been amazing, to see the way their confidence levels have risen has been truly fantastic,' Leanne said.
She also believes that the sporting program has meant that her kids now have the confidence to join in with other kids where they previously wouldn't have.
'At school when the other kids talk about their soccer games on the weekend now Josh and Cameron can join in the conversation and talk about how many tries they scored in wheelchair rugby or how they went at Volleyball,' she said.
Cameron and Josh both have Ducene muscular dystrophy, a condition which means they move around via wheelchairs.
'They can't do a lot of activities - well, there aren't that many around apart from riding for the disabled and sailing - so playing different sports once a week has just been great for them. There have been studies done which show that kids with Ducene muscular dystrophy who get out there and do stuff like sport live longer and are much healthier and happier,' Leanne said.
Leanne believes the benefits of the sporting program didn't end there.
'The boys learnt a lot about themselves and how to communicate with other people. They also learnt about teamwork and also had to start to learn to control their competitiveness. I can't stress how beneficial this has been. The drive from Ballina to Lismore each week is nothing when you know your children are going to do something really worthwhile,' she said.
'If there are any parents out there who have disabled kids I would really recommend that they come along and see how the sports program works,' Leanne said.
Abled bodied children have also been participating in the program.
'We had a line-up of kids wanting to come along and play each week. They really enjoyed themselves and learnt a lot too. One of Cameron's best friends, Reece Wilson, went every week,' Leanne said.
Reece's mother, Karen Wilson, was also extremely enthusiastic about the sporting program and the time put in by co-ordinator Jak Carroll and the volunteers who made the project possible.
'The amount of time put in by the volunteers and two girls in particular, Megan Chandler and Helen Alexiou, was wonderful. You could see the kids were awkward and shy at first but the girls were wonderful and by the end of the season the kids were laughing with them and getting on really well,' Karen said.
'You could see on their faces what a good time the kids were having - all of them together playing sport for fun,' Karen said.
After watching for a few weeks Karen and Leanne, keen sportswomen themselves, decided to have a go at wheelchair basketball.
'The adult Lismore wheelchair basketballers needed some extras so they roped us in. It was much more physically demanding than I expected,' Leanne said.
'It was really hard. We both play a lot of sport but I was really surprised at how tiring it was,' added Karen.
The wheelchair sports program is looking to be extended but in order to do so needs funding.
'If there are any businesses out there that would like to contribute in any way that would be wonderful - even if someone could donate Tee-shirts so the kids could feel like a proper team. That would make a real difference,' Karen said.
There will be a handcycling day in Spinks Park on Thursday, November 22 from 4.30-6pm.
Hand cycles are specially designed three-wheel wheelchairs that are powered by hand turned pedals.
The demonstration afternoon is open to all abilities and ages. Interested people should meet near the Rotunda in Spinks Park (behind the croquet club) in Molesworth Street, Lismore.
So come along and try one of the latest and biggest growth sports in Australia.
If you would like more information please call Simon Hancox, Sports development officer at NSW Wheelchair Sports Association on (02) 9809 5260. As a further exciting event on the day Mark Fisher will be on hand to talk about wheelchair gliding.
Mark has recently had a glider specially adapted for differently abled people and will talk about his experiences in the air.
Jak Carroll, the regional coordinator for the sports council for the disabled will also be present and available for discussion about programs on the North Coast for differently abled people. Recent programs that Jak has implemented include an adult wheelchair basketball program, a sports program for children in wheelchairs and a program walking with the blind.
Alstonville will be to continue their unbeaten beginning to the season when they take on Ballina in the LJ Hooker cricket league this Saturday and Sunday at Fripp Oval, Ballina.
Alstonville went close to taking an outright victory over Lismore Workers last weekend after declaring at 3-330 then dismissing Workers for 90 in their first innings and sending them back in.
Workers managed to hold on to avoid the outright loss by knocking up 9-220 in their second innings, giving Alstonville a first innings victory.
Workers will now take on the Casino Cavaliers at Nesbitt Park this Saturday and the following Saturday.
Casino managed a tight first innings victory over Souths last weekend, having scored 119 in their first innings and dismissed Souths for 113, Mark Bratti and Lee Jones each taking five wickets for the Cavaliers on their way to victory.
Souths will have a chance to redeem themselves when they match up against Eastern Districts at Nielson Park over the next two Saturdays.
Easts scored an easy first innings victory over Brunswick-Byron last weekend after declaring at 7-112 in reply to Brunswick-Byron's 85.
Brunswick-Byron finished their second innings at 4-44, avoiding the outright loss without too much trouble.
Brunswick-Byron now take on neighbours Lennox Head at Saunders Oval, Ballina this Saturday and Sunday.
Lennox suffered a first innings loss at the hands of Marist Brothers last weekend, when Brothers declared at 8-225 and Lennox could only manage 154 in reply.
Brothers will see if they can continue their winning run when they play Norths-Goonellabah RSL over the next two Saturdays at Heaps Oval, Lismore.
Norths put in a dismal first innings showing against Tintenbar-East Ballina last weekend, managing only 72 in response to their opponents 8-272.
Norths did manage to pull together for their second innings thanks to the middle order of Jim McLaughlin (39), Steve Mead (48) and Nathan Bonamy (42 not out), and finish the day's play at 7-143, giving Tintenbar-East Ballina the first innings win but managing to avoid the outright loss.
|
|
|
Bowled Over
Hook and Slices
What's My Line
