Academy News |
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Awards most successful yet, 13 May 2011
Following on from what has been an exciting twelve months the Gippsland Sports Academy held its annual awards on Friday May 13 at the Morwell Bowling Club.
In an evening designed to celebrate the achievements of all Academy athletes the young sporting hopefuls were treated to a wonderful insight into the lives of Olympian and former Academy swimming athlete, Ashley Delaney and World Champion swimmer, Brenton Rickard.
The Gippsland Sports Academy also took the opportunity to launch a new initiative now seeing each sport with its own individual patron. Gippsland Sports Academy Patron Tim Forsyth gave the initiative his blessing and said it was a great idea which will see more recognition for the Academy. During the evening Ashley Delaney was announced as the Morwell Bowling Club Swim Program Patron and honor he as thrilled about. Other patrons will be named as the year progresses.
The main highlight however was the presentation to the overall winners of the Academy's three major awards.
In a strong field of nominations for the Phil Shelley Award for sport development within the Gippsland Sports Academy, long term badminton coach Rudy Bartholomeusz was announced as the winner. Rudy was instrumental in developing the sport of badminton within the Gippsland Sports Academy and is a long time and respected coach. Although residing in the metropolitan area Rudy ensures Gippsland has a strong voice within the State Junior Badminton Association representing the region on a regular basis. Rudy selflessly travels to many tournaments and trainings to ensure the Gippsland Sports Academy athletes have the best possible opportunity.
The David Drane Award for encouragement was won by tennis athlete and Traralgon resident David Hough after strong and consistent performances. David's impressive record included being selected to participate in Tennis Victoria's State Advantage Program and was undefeated in the singles of the John Fitzgerald Cup State Regional event. In just his second year with the Academy his training attendance was nothing short of excellent. Young David shows great dedication to his sport and is a high achiever not put off by the need to set high goals. His improvement shows in his national ranking movement from 1654 to 994 in the year, a massive move of 660 places.
Culminating in what has been an enormous year it was no real surprise to see young swimmer Georgia Tsebelis take out the main award for the evening, the Tim Forsyth Award for Sporting Excellence. Georgia has had an outstanding year making 5 finals at the Australian Age Nationals in April winning a bronze medal in the 200m individual medley and silver in the Traralgon's record breaking 14/under freestyle team. Georgia currently holds 43 Gippsland, 7 Country and 2 Victorian records. She is well respected by her peers as an outstanding trainer and racer. Victorian Country Championships held in Geelong saw Georgia compete in 10 finals winning medals in each, 7 gold and 3 silver. Georgia also won the Rob Godfrey 13 and Under champion trophy for a record 3rd year in a row.
“It was truly an amazing atmosphere and our young Gippsland athletes are very inspiring”, Chief Executive Officer Judi Buhagiar said, “there were exceptional nominations which only makes the future of athletes in the Gippsland Sports Academy more exciting” she added. “The evening saw over 230 people attend, including State Politicians, Gippsland Councillors, business leaders, athletes and their families, who we want to thank for being such enthusiastic supporters of the Gippsland Sports Academy”, Ms Buhagiar added.
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TRUenergy invests in young local athletes, 5 May 2011
TRUenergy Yallourn has continued to invest locally with the recent announcement they will provide funding for the purchase of trophies for the Gippsland Sports Academy’s Annual Awards.
TRUenergy spokesperson Ms Meredith Bowden said they were pleased to commit this funding to the Gippsland Sports Academy as it continually offers the same opportunities to our aspiring athletes on a local level as those available to their Melbourne counterparts, without the burden of regular travel.
“Local investment is important to us and we see this as an opportunity to acknowledge the positive results Gippsland Sports Academy athletes are consistently achieving” Ms Bowden said.
Ms Judi Buhagiar, Chief Executive Officer of the Gippsland Sports Academy said she was delighted to receive the support and was excited about the newly formed relationship.
“These awards will be received by our future stars who I know will be very grateful for the support TRUenergy is providing,” Ms Buhagiar said.
“These partnerships are important to us as a community based organisation as it allows us to invest further in our athletes”, Ms Buhagiar said.
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Push for Academy Awards, 21 April 2011
With the support of many sponsors, including the six Gippsland Shires, the State Government, GippsTAFE, State Sporting Associations and many corporate supporters, competition amongst athletes from the Gippsland Sports Academy is increasing as they put their best foot forward in the hope of being awarded the annual overall winner of the Tim Forsyth Award, given to an academy athlete judged to have achieved absolute sporting excellence over the past 12 months.
“Every single one of our athletes understands the work and sacrifice it takes to be their best and we are incredibly proud of them for that, unfortunately we can’t give it to all of them,” Gippsland Sports Academy Chief Executive Officer, Judi Buhagiar said.
Over the past 12 months Gippsland Sports Academy athletes have been selected to represent their state, been selected in National squads, won prestigious awards determined by their sport’s State Governing Body, and won medals at National Championships.
“Sometimes it’s extremely hard to remember these high achievers are still aged around 13-16 with some of them having the added pressure of VCE but they just take it all in their stride” Judi said.
The Gippsland Community is really embracing the Academy and the opportunities available to its young athletes through the sports programs. This is evident in the number of sponsors signing up to support the Academy. “Even in these tough times most recently organisations such as Credit Collect, SP AusNet and Gippsland Mitsubishi have seen the value in the Academy as have the long term sponsors, not just because we have a high profile but because we are about offering a holistic approach meaning our athletes don’t only develop on field skills but life skills as well and we are also very committed to doing as much as we possibly can in Gippsland”, Judi said, “we rely heavily on sponsorship, and are very grateful for the support we receive, as the biggest regional academy in Victoria we just couldn’t do it without these generous supporters”, she said.
With former Academy athlete and now Olympian Ashley Delaney attending as guest speaker the young Gippsland hopefuls in the crowd will hear about just what is possible when you set your mind to it. The Gippsland Sports Academy Annual Awards are being held at the Morwell Bowling Club on Friday May 13. Enquiries regarding the awards are welcome and should be directed to Judi Buhagiar on 51270163.
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Annual Awards shaping up to be a big night, 6 April 2011
The Gippsland Sports Academy will host its annual awards night on Friday May 13 at the Morwell Bowling Club. First established in 1997 by local sporting personality David Drane the academy has come a long way since its beginnings. Now facilitating 10 sports it is the largest of six regional academies in Victoria. One of only two regional academies who have a female at the helm and the first time the Gippsland Sports Academy has appointed a female to the position of Chief Executive Officer.
Continuing to develop local athletes to be their best not only on the sporting field but in life, the Gippsland Sports Academy is seen as an integral step towards State and National selection by the State Sporting Associations because it provides regular specialist coaching and athlete education in Gippsland rather than the athletes having to make the trek to Melbourne time and time again.
“The Gippsland Sports Academy was developed by a man with a vision to ensure young people in Gippsland have just as much chance to make it to the world stage as anyone”, Chief Executive Officer Judi Buhagiar said, nothing beats the feeling of arriving at work to news that one of our athletes has been selected in a state or national team” she added.
Ashley Delaney ... guest speaker
The 2010 Academy Awards will feature local champion and former Gippsland Sports Academy athlete Olympic swimmer Ashley Delaney. Ashley, a backstroke specialist, returned home from Delhi with 3 bronze and 1 gold.
“It is quite fitting that Ashley will be our guest speaker at the awards as swimming is exceptionally strong in Gippsland, with our Morwell Bowling Club Swim Programme seeing athletes consistently achieve national times” Judi said.
The Gippsland Sports Academy Awards celebrate the achievements of inspiring Gippsland athletes. The Awards allow community leaders, representatives from State Sporting Organisations, Sponsors and many others to come together to congratulate athletes on their achievements.
During the evening 3 members from each sport are acknowledged through awards such as the Tim Forsyth Award for Sporting Excellence, named in honor of the Academy’s patron, the David Drane Award for Encouragement, named in honor of the founder of the Gippsland Sports Academy and the Phil Shelley Award, named in honor of the Academy’s first Chief Executive Officer which is given in recognition of sport development. Through the process of selection a panel choose 3 overall winners as having been the best of the best in 2010 with trophies being awarded to all recipients.
Past overall winners have included Anthony Brown (Tim Forsyth/golf), Jeremy Meyer (Tim Forsyth/swimming), Stephanie Barnett (David Drane/tennis), Sam Montague (David Drane/squash), Vern Curnow (Athletics/Phil Shelley), Howard Williams (Volleyball/Phil Shelley) and Brian Ford (Swimming/Phil Shelley).
Judi Buhagiar concluded by saying “The evening is a real opportunity to congratulate the athletes on having the courage and sincerity to go out and get what they want, to thank the support staff from the various sport programmes for their continued belief in our athletes and to applaud the parents and families who make such selfless sacrifices to give these kids the best possible opportunity.”
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Judi Buhagiar appointed as new Chief Executive Officer, 22 February 2010
Chairman of the Gippsland Sports Academy, Darrell White is very pleased to announce, on behalf of the Board, that Judi Buhagiar from Traralgon has been appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer with the Academy.
Judi brings a wealth of sporting administration experience to the Academy through her previous roles in sporting organisations such as Team Manager of the national netball team Melbourne Kestrels, and prior to this in her role as Manager at the Traralgon Tennis Centre. In addition, Judi has recently had experience as a Director with the North Gippsland Football Netball League, with a particular focus on netball.
Judi is very excited about having the opportunity to take on this role as she has a strong passion for sport in general, but she is especially pleased to have the chance to contribute to developing, maintaining and enhancing pathways in the Academy for young Gippsland athletes to realise their full potential
Judi will commence duties on 1st March next.
The Academy's current Chief Executive Officer, Bryan Heron will be leaving the Academy in mid March to fulfil an ambition to commence a touring holiday around Australia.
The Board is especially grateful to Bryan and acknowledges with appreciation the significant contribution and impact he has made over the period of his tenure as Chief Executive Officer with the Academy.
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Sports gear up for 2010, 30 November 2009
The Gippsland Sports Academy is gearing up to an exciting year with athletes in some sports about to plunge into summer competition and a number of squads due to recommence shortly.
The competitive season for each of the Academy's sport runs to different schedules so there is a continuing cycle of sports phasing in and out during the year. Swimming, volleyball, lawn bowls and athletics have all convened squads about two months ago in preparation for the summer season.
Early season conditioning has been the emphasis of the swimming and athletics programs. For volleyball and lawn bowls, where both squads have a significant number of new recruits this year, skills and team work have taken a higher emphasis.
Volleyball is already in its competitive phase and Victorian trials for some of the age squads commence in December and run on into February. The squad has 39 members, the largest in the Academy and a number of weekend training camps have been held to consolidate the athletes' training progress.
With Academy volleyball representatives regularly making state teams the prospects of more next year are already promising. Some squad members have gone on to Australian teams, with Eliza Smith in the Australian Junior Team this year.
The swimmers competed in the Victorian short course titles in early September, not long after they had resumed their training and after a short break. These championships however, are generally regarded in the sport as an early season benchmark and serious competition begins early January and runs through into April. Some swimmers are already testing themselves in pre-season events.
This year's swimming squad is diminished by some of it's senior members moving on. Two of the better known, Jeremy Saunders and Jeremy Meyer, have taken up Victorian or Australian Institute of Sport scholarships. Nonetheless, departure is a part of the Academy squad cycle and new young talents always emerge to fill the places of those who leave.
Lawn bowls will run a summer schedule similar to swimming, despite the obvious differences in the two sports. There will be a large number of events held in January where the Academy will be represented, but only a handful of the squad will compete in each. But all will be competing regularly in club or regional tournaments throughout the summer.
The Athletics squad members have already had a number of competition opportunities in regional events and Victorian schools titles. They will be attempting to peak around March for the State and national titles, with good form for the country titles at the end of January.
New squads will be starting soon for badminton and our new sport, table tennis. In the new year, at tennis, golf and squash will recommence their new programs.
We look forward to an interesting year as these sports gear up the 2010 year.
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Darrell White, Academy Chairman, wins Tennis Vic Service Award, 16 January 2007
Tennis Victoria recently announced that Darrell White has been honoured with their Highly Commended Service Award. The Award recognises Darrell's involvement for more than 50 years as a player, coach and administrator.
An acknowledgement to Darrell's involvement in tennis was given in Victorian Tennis News.
Darrell was naturally a keen supporter of the establishment of a Tennis Program within the Academy and has worked hard to ensure its commencement and continuing success. He has served as an administrator in many roles - not all of them given in the article - and is currently the president of Tennis Victoria's Central Gippsland Region.
Congratulations Darrell!
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