February - March 2008 - Newsletter

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Australian Athletes with a Disability

Australian Athletes with a Disability has moved into new premises. We are now located at Sportshouse, 6 Figtree Drive, Sydney Olympic Park. Our phone and fax numbers have changed but all other contact details remain the same.
PH: 02 8116 9720
FAX: 02 8732 1633 

Wheelchair Sports Australia

WSA recently announced that its 2008 AGM would be held in Sydney on 22-23 October. The meetings will take place at Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush Bay, Sydney. Further information will be made available to member organisations closer to the event.

Acknowledgements

Australian Sports Awards

Kurt Fearnley of Wheelchair Sports NSW has won the Sportscover Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability for the second consecutive year at the Australian Sport Awards. Fearnley had an outstanding year in wheelchair sports, winning the 1,500m event held at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka as well as a number of the iconic marathons around the World. Fearnley won the New York, Chicago, Paris and Seoul marathons in the one calendar year.

The two other nominees who were short listed for awards Darryl Hoyle (Category: Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability - waterskiing) and Ray Epstein (Category: Sports Executive of the Year), both of Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association, were unfortunately pipped at the post with Darryl's category being won by Kurt Fearnley and Ray's being won by Brian Cook from AFL (CEO of Geelong Cats). Well done to both Darryl and Ray for reaching the shortlist of their respective categories.

The Australian Sport Awards are the only awards in Australia to recognise achievements across all sports in all areas of the sporting sector. The Awards were announced on 25 February via a special online video presentation in conjunction with media partner SBS Television. For further information on the Awards, go to the Awards website at www.australiansportawards.com.au

NSW Sports Awards

The 2007 NSW Sports Federation Annual Sports Awards were held on 12th February 2008. The event attracted the "who's who" of sport in NSW and was emceed by Kerri Pottharst. Recognition was given in 17 categories, with Kurt Fearnley, World Champion Wheelchair Track and Road Racer, winning the NSW Athlete of the Year with a Disability Award. Congratulations to the following Wheelchair Sports NSW and CPSARA members who took out their category awards:

NSW ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY AWARD
Kurt Fearnley OAM (Athletics / Wheelchair Track and Road Racing)

NSW JUNIOR ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY
Joint winners - Bill Latham (Wheelchair Basketball) and Kara Leo (CPSARA/Swimming)

NSW TEAM WITH A DISABILITY
Joint winners - Hills Hornets Wheelchair Basketball Team and NSW Cerebral Palsy Football Team

Sports News

Archery

The latest Men's Australian Open Compound Rankings have been released and are as follows:

ATHLETE
DATE
PLACE
SCORE
Mark Tomkins
27/01/2008
Australia Day Shoot
1298
Stephen Jankovic
9/12/2007
QRE Erina, Australia
1272
James Flood
5/10/2007
IPC World Championships, Korea
1155

Wheelchair Basketball

WNWBL and NWBL

For information on the upcoming rounds of the WNWBL visit http://wnwbl.sports.org.au and on the NWBL visit http://nwbl.sports.org.au

Football

10 Year Anniversary of CP Football

The 10 Year Anniversary of CP Football will be marked with a special celebration dinner on the evening of Sunday 8 June at the Reef Lounge, Dee Why RSL Club, Dee Why, Sydney.

CP Football has come along way from their early beginnings in 1998 with the 12 players making up the National team scattered across the country, with the largest contingent being 5 players in NSW, to now over 100 registered players nationally.

With increasingly more states represented in the National Squad and also at the National Championships, including representation from NSW, ACT, QLD, VIC, WA, and SA, the National Championships this year present the perfect opportunity to host the 10 year celebration and incorporate the Championship presentations at the same time.

The function is an opportunity to highlight past and current players, officials and key personnel that were instrumental in the development of CP Football in Australia. Tickets are $30 and are available through emailing rsvp@cpsara.org.au or phoning Vikki on 02 4787 6561 (after 5.30pm).

The National Championships will be held at Sydney Academy of Sport and Recreation, Narrabeen, 6 - 8 June 2008 with the finals being held on the Sunday afternoon. Family, friends and spectators are welcome to attend any of the games over the weekend (schedule to be advised).

Powerlifting

The 2008 Powerlifting National Championships are scheduled to be held on Saturday 29 March at the Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Gym at Bowen Hills, Brisbane. For information and results visit www.sportingwheelies.org.au

Wheelchair Road Racing

The NSWIS National Wheelchair Track and Road training camp scheduled for 25 - 27 April will take place at the Sydney Academy of Sport at Narrabeen. For all information contact Andrew Dawes on andrew.dawes@nswis.com.au

Wheelchair Rugby

The Telstra National Wheelchair Rugby League is set to commence in Perth on 4 April. Playing in the opening round will be Victoria Coloplast Thunder, the South Australian Sharks and the West Coast Enforcers (WA). The following weekend Round 1 continues in Brisbane with the Queensland Crocs taking on the NSW Gladiators and the NZ Development team.

The final two rounds (which all teams will be attending) are scheduled as follows:

Sydney: 30 May - 1 June, 2008
Melbourne: 11-13 July, 2008

A Beijing Paralympic Selection Camp was held in South Australia from 14-16 March. The players had to endure Adelaide's heatwave 40 degree plus conditions during the entire camp but despite this it was business as usual. The final team for Beijing will be announced once selections have been finalised by the APC.

Table Tennis

Rebecca Julian (Class 6) and Sarah Lazarro (Class 9) have both prequalified for the 2008 Beijing Paralympics based on ranking points and must now await to see if they also meet nomination criteria by TTA and the APC before their selection is confirmed. In contention also for the Beijing Paralympics is Catherine Morrow (Class 5) for whom TTA have submitted a bipartite (wildcard) to the IPTC. The outcome of whether a qualifying spot has been granted to Catherine should be known by the end of this month. She will then also need to go through the process of meeting specified nomination criteria.

All three players have a busy few months ahead of them and are scheduled to play in Piestany, Slovakia and Romania in May/June, with a training camp in Europe slotted in between. Good luck to all three players for these tournaments and of course for the outcome of their selections for Beijing.

Wheelchair Tennis

The 2008 Sydney International Wheelchair Tennis Open was again run with great success 30 January - 3 February at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre. Many of the world's top players made their way to Australia to start off their Paralympic year. For full results of the competition visit www.wsnsw.org.au

Calendar of Events 2007 (*Subject to alterations)

Events Calendar 2008
March
22-30
Australian Deaf Games
April
1
Sailing
Paralympic Cup
3-5
Swimming
Paralympic Trials -  Open
3-6
Lawn Bowls
SA State Singles and Pairs Championships
Adelaide
SA
4-6
Womens Basketball
WNWBL Round 1
Brisbane
QLD
4-6
Rugby
NWRL Round 1 A
Perth
WA
5-6
Water Skiing
AWWF Nationals
Woodford
QLD
11-13
Rugby
NWRL Round 1 B
Brisbane
QLD
22-23
Cycling
Australian Road Cyling Championships
Sydney
NSW
25-27
Rugby
Wheelchair Rugby Bash
Brisbane
QLD
24-27
AVC & WBC Cup Finals
May
1-4
Lawn Bowls
Victorian State Championships
Fitzroy North
Victoria
2-4
Womens Basketball
WNWBL Round 2
Perth
WA
3-4 
Euro Champions Cup Finals
3-8
Boccia
Australian Championships
Carina
QLD
5-8
VPC Manchester UK (ten date)
UK
20-25 
Wheelchair Rugby
Super Series
Boxhill
Victoria
23-25 
Mens Basketball
NWBL Round 1
30-1 (June)
Rugby
NWRL Round 2
Sydney
NSW
31-6 (June)
Ten Pin Bowling
Australian Championships
Belconnen
ACT
June
6-8
Mens Basketball
NWBL Round 2
6-9
Wheelchair Basketball
QLD Classics
Brisbane
QLD
20-22
Womens Basketball
WNWBL Round 3
Melbourne
VIC
13-15
Mens Basketball
NWBL Round 3
27-29
Mens Basketball
NWBL Round 4
June / July
Womens basketball
Women to Lakeshore /Roosevelt

Subject to alterations
A full Calendar of Events can be found at http://www.sports.org.au/calendar.html


ausport
6 Figtree Drive, Sydney Olympic Park NSW 2127
PO Box S83 Homebush South NSW 2140
Phone + 61 2 8116 9720 Fax + 61 2 8732 1633
ACN 104 461 814
info@sports.org.au
www.sports.org.au

If you have any articles, news items or information that you would like included in our monthly newsletter, please email details to info@sports.org.au . Whilst we will do our best to include your stories, we do not guarantee publication of all articles due to either space or content restrictions. We also reserve the right to edit any content prior to its publication in our newsletter. Information should be received prior to the 20th of each month.