Bulli Surf Club 2nd in Australian Pool Rescue Championships
At the 2009 Australian Pool Rescue Championships at the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre at Homebush on the 2nd & 3rd May, Maroochydore won by taking home an impressive 14 gold medals. Maroochydore SLSC finished the two days of competition with 237 points and managed to hold out defending champions Elouera SLSC who were relinquished to third place on 98 points, with Bulli SLSC finishing second on 179.
Local club Bulli had an impressive carnival over the 2 days with the young U15’s - U17’s competitors having their first look at the pool rescue events and thoroughly enjoying the challenge. Two new members Lachlan O’Grady (formerly Stanwell Park) & Madeline Green (formerly North Wollongong) couldn’t hide their delight at the experience at contesting their first pool rescue competition.
The U15 4 x 50m Obstacle Relay Team (Madeline Green, Emma Lockhart, Brittany Greene & Carly Fagerstrom) placed 3rd to win their first ever SLSA championship medal. Brittany Greene & Carly Fagerstrom then teamed together to place 2nd in the U15 Line Throw. Unfortunately Madeline Green & Emma Lockhart orginally placed 2nd but were disqualified for a technical breach.
Ryan O’Grady in the U17’s and only after 4 weeks of technical training with the rescue tube, manikin & racing fins had a great carnival winning the U17 200m Super Lifesaver & U17 100m Rescue Medley. Mitchell Fagerstrom raced exceptionally well in the U19’s winning gold in the U19 200m Super Lifesaver & U19 50m Manikin Carry.
Downie Langthorne with a limited preparation due to coaching the young Bulli team recorded a couple of personal best times in winning the Open 100m Manikin Tow with fins & placing 2nd in the Open 100m Rescue Medley & Open 50m Manikin Carry.
Brittany Sharkey also raced well in winning the Open 100m Manikin Carry with fins, 100m Manikin Tow with fins & 3rd in the 100m Rescue Medley. Hannah Minogue placed 3rd in the 100m Manikin Tow with fins & 3rd 100m Manikin Carry with fins. Current World Champion Matt Green teamed with Matt Crisafi to win the Open Men’s Line Throw.
Bulli’s relay teams performed exceptionally well with a mixture of Open/U19’s & U17’s competitors racing in the Open Male teams (Downie Langthorne, Matt Freeman, Matt Green, Mitch Fagerstrom, Matt Crilley, Sean White, Matt Crisafi, Ryan O’Grady & Nick Ferderer). The club won the 4 x 50m Obstacle Relay, 4 x 25m Manikin Relay & placed 2nd & 3rd in the 4 x 50m Medley Relay.
Brittany Sharkey, Hannah Minogue, Mikalya Morris & Jess Plummer teamed to place 2nd in the Open Female 4 x 50m Obstacle Relay. The club also had 2 teams entered in the Simulated Emergency Response Competition and came away with 2 medals. Bulli Gold winning the event, the team of Downie Langthorne, Jamie Caldwell, Matt Green & Matt Crilley. Bulli Maroon team of Brittany Sharkey, Matt Freeman, Mitchell Fagerstrom & Matt Crisafi placed 3rd.
Overall BULLI SLSC won 11 Gold, 8 Silver & 10 Bronze medals clearly the best performed club from NSW.
After the championships Downie Langthorne, Matt Green & Brittany Sharkey were selected as pool athletes in the 2009/2010 Australian Surf Life Saving High Performance Squad.
For more on this story and club President Keith Caldwell’s comments on Bulli’s performance go to: http://wollongong.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=3627
Scorchers plucked by Illawarra Hawks
The second placed Illawarra Hawks have proven too strong for the Springwood Scorchers and took the match 91-70, on Saturday night in Wollongong, in round eight of the 2009 NSW State League Basketball competition.
Scorchers star shooting guard Rimond Abboud was an absentee on the weekend, as he is struggling to overcome an injury sustained two weeks ago against the Hawkesbury Jets, while point guard Lee Van Hoogenvest only lasted three quarters of the game before getting his marching orders from the referees.
The Scorchers had still been in contention during the third quarter but a last second prayer by the Hawks, from well over halfway, appeared to devastate the Scorchers and shatter their already fragile morale. The Hawks dominated in 'money-time', out-scoring the Scorchers 24-14 in the term to wrap up the 21-point victory.
Top scorers for the Hawks were Goode with 17 points followed by Bonham (16) and Jackson (14).
Scorchers' head coach Vince Browning said "We were in it (the game) until the end of the third quarter but that prayer (three-point shot) just hit us for six. The loss of Lee (Van Hoogenvest) was just another blow we didn't need and basically, we just ran out of troops in the final quarter."
"Keith Browning (13 points) and Adrian Qumivutia (16 points) had been on the court all game and were literally both out on their feet and although the bench played well, we just didn't have the big guns available to get us back into the game".
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Illawarra Hawks 91 (J Goode 17 points, B Bonham 16, C Jackon 14) defeated Springwood Scorchers 70 (Adrian Qumivutia 16 points, Keith Browning 13)
For more on Men’s State League Basketball go to http://www.nswbasketball.net.au/events/2009/SBL/Men/09D1MResults.htm
For more Illawarra basketball stories go to: http://wollongong.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=1370
Action photos from the NBL, WNBL, WABL, SL, WNWBL and NWBL can be viewed at www.photoexcellence.com.au
Dapto Chiefs show Illawarra Baseball title potential
Dapto Chiefs confirmed themselves as legitimate premiership contenders with a spirited 10-9 win over Berkeley Eagles in their round 5 game played on Saturday at Eagles Field, Fred Finch Park, Berkeley.
Chiefs fought back after being 9-1 in arrears after the completion of four innings to remain unbeaten at the completion of one full round of games. They also defeated reining premiers Cardinals two weeks ago.
Eagles had a dream start courtesy of a two out grand slam (four run) homer by first baseman John Allender in the bottom of the first. They extended the lead to 9-1 in the fourth when New South Wales and Australian Provincial representative player Tim Atherton despatched an Aaron Wirth pitch out of the park.
Chiefs came back into the game in the fifth capitalising on two Eagles fielding errors that allowed five unearned runs to cross home plate. From this point on Chiefs had all the running with Jonathon Hall not only slamming a solo homer in the sixth but backing up by pitching four innings and conceding just one safe hit and no earned runs in relief.
The visitors drew level in the eighth following Ben Shepherd’s leadoff single, Mitch Thompson’s RBI single and a one out RBI hit by Hall. They went one up in the ninth when Beau Garrett was batted in by Jarrett Commane and then held out Eagles from scoring in their turn at bat.
Chiefs outhit Eagles 13-8 Hall registering 3 / 5 with 4 RBI’s and Commane batting 3 / 6 with 2 RBI’s. Kaine Abbott was Eagles best with 2 / 5.
On the adjacent field at Fred Finch Park the Shoalhaven Mariners came within one inning of recording their first win since being promoted to the top grade. Mariners went down 10-8, their opposition, Pirates scoring six runs, four of which were unearned, in the top of the ninth.
After Pirates scored two in the first the game produced a tight encounter that Mariners tie the game at 4-4 in the sixth. Mariners then went 6-4 up after batting in the eighth but saw their lead negated with Pirates big rally in the ninth. The home team could not bridge the leading margin in their turn at bat in the bottom of the ninth but went down fighting scoring a further two runs.
Pirates outhit Mariners 14-13 Matt Sainsbury and Todd Southcombe registering three hits for Pirates, the former also batting in three runs. Blake Mitchell and Cairan O’Brien topped Mariners hitting with three hits apiece, Mitchell batting in two runs.
In the remaining game Wests Cardinals produced a 12-0 result over Kiama Braves at Kiama Downs the victors registering 15 hits to 3. Jim Longley headed the Red Birds hitting with 3 / 4 and 1 RBI and Trent D’Antonio, Nathan Grogan and Graham Fulcher all registering two hits. David Jefford batted 2 / 3 for Braves.
Results for Round 5:
First Grade: Dapto Chiefs 10 Berkeley Eagles 9; Northern Pirates 10 Shoalhaven Mariners 8; Wests Cardinals 12 Kiama Braves 0
Second Grade: Eagles 9 Chiefs 5; Pirates 9 Mariners 1: Cardinals 11 Braves 9
Third Grade: Eagles 7 Chiefs 3; Pirates 27 Mariners 8; Cardinals 17 Braves 2
Minor League: Pirates 13 Panthers (4)1; Cardinals 16 Panthers (5) 4; Chiefs 22 Braves 4; Warriors (4) 13 Warriors (5) 12
In next Saturday’s round six fixtures Berkeley Eagles play Wests Cardinals at Eagles Field, Fred Finch Park, Berkeley and Shoalhaven Kiama Braves on the #2 Field at the same venue. Dapto Chiefs play a home game at Hector Harvey Reserve, Dapto against Pirates. First grade games commence at 2.00pm.
Want to coach junior cricketers? Level 1 Course on May 24
The Level 1 Cricket Coaching Course is recommended to all volunteers involved in coaching junior club, school and community cricket teams. The course provides technical skills, game understanding, teaching techniques, effective ways to conduct training sessions and awareness of the factors motivating young people to play and enjoy cricket.
The Level 1 Course now consists of completing the Introduction to Cricket Course on-line (covering all the theoretical components of Level 1), then registering to attend a face to face practical component conducted over one full day. The Introduction to Cricket Course can be completed in one sitting or over a number of sessions, whatever is more convenient to the candidate.
The Level 1 Practical Skills Day will be held:-
Day/Date: Sunday May 24, 2009
Time: Commencing 9.00am - 4.00pm
Venue: Illawarra Sports High, Sports Hall, Gura Street, Berkeley
For further details contact Graham Smith Regional Cricket Manager Illawarra/Southern Zone
Cricket NSW | PO Box 245 Albion Park NSW 2527
Ph: 4257 3272 | Fax: 4257 1428 | Mob: 0425 297718
www.country.cricketnsw.com | www.playcricket.com
Illawarra baseballers in Australian Provincial Touring Team
The Australian Provincial touring team for 2009 has been selected – this will be the 6th tour by the team since 1999. All previous tours have been to Europe where the "boys from the bush" have participated against Europe's best teams in events such as the German Open, Czech Republic Open, Prague Baseball Week. Some past players were offered contracts to play in European Leagues. This tour will be to Asia.
The team contains several Illawarra players - Tim Atherton, Trent D'Antonio and Brenden Lower. The team Manager / Head Coach is Allan Parrott who was the Illawarra Flame inaugural head coach and past Illawarra League coach. Allan, who is now based in Batemans Bay, was also contracted to coach the Regensberg Club in the German Bundislega following the 1999 tour.
The Australian Provincial Team will tour Guam and Japan in May 2009. This is the first time the APT has toured Japan and the second time the team has visited Guam. The team will play three games against the Guam national team and also train utilising the facilities on the island. Both games will be played at the National Baseball Centre.
On completion of this part of the tour the team will travel to Japan, the APT will play a series of ten games, competing against University, Industrial League and Independent League Teams in the cities of Morioko, Niigatta and Yokohama. For the full team and tour details go to: http://wollongong.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=3628
As seniors struggle Wollongong’s Premier Youth League teams do well
Compared to their senior Premier League counterparts, Wollongong’s Premier Youth League soccer teams are doing well in their competitions. The senior side is struggling at the bottom of its table but the youth league teams have 4 out of 5 teams in the play-off five after 9 rounds.
The under 18s and 16s lead their competitions while the 15s are third, the 13s fifth and the 14s while ninth are only 2 points from fifth spot.
In last weekend’s games against the West Sydney Berries, Wollongong picked up 4 wins and a draw in the five games. Results for the round played last week against West Sydney were:
Under 13: Wollongong won 2 nil
Under 14: Wollongong drew nil all
Under 15: Wollongong won 1 nil
Under 16: Wollongong won 3 nil
Under 18: Wollongong won 5 - 1
Wollongong teams play their next round against Blacktown City, at Gabbie Stadium with the 13s beginning at 9 am on Saturday May 9.
Previous SportsLive reports on the Wollongong Premier Youth League teams can be found at: http://wollongong.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=3462
More results and the draw can be found at http://www.soccernsw.com.au/index.php?id=78
Register for Sydney’s World Masters Games:
As at late March 6700 people had registered for the World Masters games in Sydney on October 10 -18, 2009. Over 28 sports will cater for participants of varying standards and ages. For example, tennis has singles, doubles and mixed doubles in ten year age brackets from 30+ to 80+ with A grade for competition players and B grade for social players and beginners.
Registrations close on July 31. For more details go to the World Games web site: http://www.2009worldmasters.com/default.aspx
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