January
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for January is Jessica Wray for Swimming.
At the Senior State Age Swimming Championships, held at Sydney Olympic Park, Jessica swam 50 metres freestyle in a time of 28.06. She placed 11th, just missing the final, though this incredible time qualifies her for the national titles in April. Though Jessica has been training for four years at the Moss Vale Aquatic Centre, this is her first year competing for the Moss Vales Swim Club. She currently trains with the Bluefit Swim Squad under head coach Ben Blaik and at the 2022 Chevalier College Swimming Carnival, though only in Year 9, broke the all-age female 50m record. This talented athlete also competes in gymnastics and athletics when not in the pool.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for January is Kevin O’Meley for Cycling.
In January, Kevin, a vision impaired cyclist, together with his pilot Richard Vollebregt competed in the B tandem category at the 2022 Federation University Road National Championships in Ballarat. They claimed two medals, a gold in the road race and silver in the time trial. Kevin, who has retinitis pigmentosa (tunnel vision) is a member of the Southern Highlands Cycling Club and, in February, the team went on to earn three NSW state titles. They won the 1km individual time trial, 4km pursuit and the flying 200m sprint.
February
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for February is Harry Keats for Athletics.
Harry competed in the Regional Little Athletics Championships in early February representing Bowral Little Athletics. In the U12 age division, he placed 1st in the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m events. Harry also broke records in the 400m and 800m races. He also competed in the NSW Junior State Athletics Championships in late February representing Athletics Wollongong. Running up, in the U14 age division, Harry placed 1st in both the 400m and 800m events.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for February is Patrick Reid for Skeet Shooting.
Days from his 18th Birthday, Patrick competed in the NSW State Titles both as a junior and a senior competitor. In the junior events he placed 12th in the NSW state team and interstate skeet match scoring 144/150 and 8th in the NSW Postal Teams scoring 48/50. In the senior events, he placed 2nd in the B Grade NSW State 100 T Championships scoring 95/100 and 1st in the B Grade NSW State Skeet Doubles Championships scoring 43/50 5/6. Patrick was awarded 1st junior overall with a score or 187/200.
March
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for March is Phoenix Sparke for Winter Biathlon.
Phoenix Sparke is a young Australian pioneer in the sport of Winter Biathlon which combines the sports of cross country ski-ing and shooting. Phoenix spent the Australian summer months in Italy and Austria as a member of the Biathlon Australia Development Team. He qualified for the Youth Junior World Biathlon Championships, held in Soldier Hollow Utah, by placing 2nd in the U16 Austrian National Biathlon Championships. At the World Championships, which fielded competitors from thirty-two countries, Phoenix competed in the U19 age division and, at fifteen years of age, was the youngest competitor. He placed 60th in Individual 12.5km event and was part of the Youth Men’s Relay team which placed 16th. Phoenix was also selected as a member of the Illawarra U16 representative Rugby 7s team and the Illawarra U16 Rugby representative team.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for March is Melissa Perrine for Alpine Ski-ing
Melissa was named co-captain of the 2022 Australian Winter Paralympic team and was given the honour of carrying the flag in the opening ceremony. She competed in two events in the vision-impaired category, the Slalom and Giant Slalom where Melissa, and her guide Bobbi Kelly, placed 6thin the Giant Slalom. Melissa is retiring from elite sport after an incredible 12 years of consistently being in the top five. During her stellar career, Mellissa competed in four Paralympics.
April
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for April is Willoughby Watson for Cricket.
At just sixteen years of age, Willoughby was recognised as the Highland District Cricket’s top first grade run scorer for the 2021/22 season. The Bowral Blues player’s batting average was 133.3 and during the season he scored two centuries, including a not-out century at Bradman Oval, two half centuries and thirty-eight boundaries. Willoughby is also a leg-spin and medium pace bowler. He has also recently been selected into the 2022 Cricket NSW Greater Illawarra Junior Academy.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for April is Colin Clarson for Athletics.
Colin Clarson finished the 2021/22 Athletics season on a high by competing at the Australian Masters Athletics Championships in Brisbane from 1st – 4th April. At the upper most edge of his age group, he placed in the top ten for all his events including 5th in the 400 metre event. What makes Colin exceptional, is his ability to race both short and middle distance events. He qualified to race at the national level for the 100 metre, 200 metre, 400 metre and 800 metre events in the 55-59 years age group.
May
The Junior Monthly Award Recipients for May are Jack Bowie for Martial Arts and Ollie Linde for Swimming
Often it is just too hard for the Berrima District Sports Awards committee to split two incredible athletes and that was the case in May. At the end of May, Jack competed in the Australian Federation Brazilian Jiu Jitsu NSW Autumn Cup held at Sydney University. He made the final against a tough competitor from Melbourne who is currently the Australian champion for their age and weight division. Losing by just one advantage, he took home the silver medal. While not training with Pure Brazilian Ju Jitsu in Bowral, he is coaching and proving to be a wonderful mentor to the younger participants. Jack also plays hockey for Mittagong in both the Southern Highland Hockey Association’s (SHHA) U13 and U15 competitions and captained the U13 team. He was selected in the U13 SHHA representative team and has also taken on umpiring and currently officiates U7, U9 and U11 matches.
In May, co-junior recipient Ollie Linde competed at the NSWCIS (Combined Independent Schools) Swimming Championships. He placed 1st in the 15 years 50 metre freestyle, 2nd in the 15 years 50 metre backstroke, 3rd in the 15 years 100 metre freestyle and 12th in the 15/16 years 200 metre freestyle.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipients for May are Alister Hill for Fencing.
Alister competed at the National Junior Men’s Epee Championships in late May and placed 13th in the individual event and 5th in teams. He also competed in the NSW Schools Fencing League Under 19 Individual Epee Premiership and placed 2nd which boosted his Australian Junior (U23) Men’s ranking to 11th.
June
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for June is Pixie Hanson for Athletics.
In June, Pixie competed in NSWCIS (Combined Independent Schools) Cross Country Championships and placed 2nd in the 11 years girl’s event. Another outing in June saw Pixie crowned State Champion when she won the NSW U12 3km event at the Athletics NSW Cross County Championships.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for June is Gus Schofield for Hockey.
As a result of his stellar performance representing the Southern Highlands Hockey Association (SHHA) at the Open Men’s State Championships over the June long weekend, Gus was selected in the NSW Country team. This was his fourth experience as a member of this state representative team and the Australian Country Championships was be played this year in Albany in Western Australia. Though he plays a variety of positions on a Friday night for his Robertson 1st grade team in the SHHA competition, his preferred position is back and that’s where he hoped to spend the majority of the time at the Championships.
July
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for July is Billy Apostolatos for Football.
In July, Billy was selected in the U15 NSW Country State Team which recently played at the National Youth Championships. Billy spent the season playing football for the Wollongong Wolves but also had a busy year representing Moss Vale High School competing at the NSW All Schools State Cross Country Championships and the South Coast Regional Athletics Carnival in the U15 1500m, 800m, 400m and triple jump. Year 10 student Billy was also a member of the MVHS open Boys Football team in the South Coast knockout competition where the team made it to the 3rd round.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for July is Holly Hurford for Hockey.
Holly Hurford was selected into the NSW All Schools Hockey team. Her journey began when she had her first game of hockey with the Moss Vale High School team in Year 7. This year Holly, who is now in Year 12, was selected for the second consecutive year into the South Coast team which played a tournament in Newcastle in May. Based on her excellent performance, she was selected into the NSWCHS (Combined High Schools) team which played in the NSW All Schools Tri Series tournament against the NSWCIS (Combined Independent Schools) and NSWCCS (Combined Catholic Schools) teams. Holly’s high school hockey career was capped off with her inclusion in the NSW All Schools team.
August
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for August is Alfie Cornwell for Swimming.
Alfie Cornwell found himself in excellent company as he stood on the blocks at the recent Australian Short Course Swimming Championships held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. He made the final for the 200-metre backstroke in the Open division, alongside 2022 Commonwealth Games medallist Bradley Woodward. Alfie placed 19th in the Open division and is the 4th fastest 16-year-old in the country.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for August is Jorgi Webb for Football.
Jorgi, a talented midfielder was selected in the U18 NSW Country Football team to play in the National Championships in October in Canberra. After an extremely successful tournament, Jorgi was selected in the NSW Regional Squad for the National Talent Challenge which offers Under 18 players the opportunity to showcase their talents in front of Football Australian and Australian National Team selectors. Jorgi played in the division one South East Phoenix team based in Nowra for the 2022 season.
September
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for September is Holly Rae for Athletics.
In September, Holly competed at the NSWCIS (Combined Independent Schools) Athletics Championship and won gold in the 15 year girls 100 metres and created a new record in a time of 12.15 seconds. She also came away with a gold medal and a new record in the 200 metres with a time of 25.12 seconds. Holly then went on to race at the NSW All Schools Athletics Championships and won the 100 metres with a personal best time of 12.04 seconds and won a silver in the 200 metres, just 0.02 seconds behind the winner with a time of 24.53 seconds.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for September is Peter Jensen for Cricket.
In September, Peter played with the Australian Over 60s Cricket team at the World Cup held in Queensland. Australia defeated Wales, Canada, Zimbabwe, India and drew with Sri Lanka. Their only defeat came at the hands of Pakistan. As vice-captain of the team, Peter lead by example scoring 130 runs in the five matches with 91 his top score against Pakistan in the semi-final. He also bowled two overs and made two catches.
October
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for October is Euan Shedden for Orienteering.
In October, Euan competed in the Australian Orienteering Championships which were held in Daylesford, Victoria. The championships were held in a mix of terrain including very complex gold mining areas and navigationally difficult sections through granite boulder fields. Euan’s stamina was tested as he competed in nine events over nine days and with close to 2,000 competitors from all around Australia, New Zealand and even some from Europe, the standard of competition was very high. Euan was running in the M10 category for children 10 years and under and had an exceptional carnival. He can now claim to be an Australian Champion having claimed gold in the Australian Middle Distance and the Australian Long Distance. He also came away with a bronze in the Australian Sprint Distance.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for October is Sebastian Sell for Rugby League.
Sebastian was selected to represent Greece in their national Rugby League team to compete at the Rugby League World Cup in England. It was the first time that Greece had qualified for the World Cup and players came from Greece, England, New Zealand and Australia to join the team. During the World Cup, Greece played France, Samoa and England and Sebastian played an incredible 205 minutes across the three games. Usually a second rower, Sebastian was also played as a prop, at times conceding in excessive of 30 kilos to his opposite number.
November
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for November is Sam Harwood for Cricket.
Sam was selected in the U16 Greater Illawarra team to play in the NSW Youth Championships against Southern NSW Representative teams. In round one, against Southern districts, Sam scored 112, took 3 catches and a wicket. Also in November, Sam was selected to tour with the U17 Australian Cricket Academy to play in India next April. They will play other international academies out of Australia, India, England, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Sam, who is only in Year 8, was selected in the 2022/23 Oxley College XI and, at just 14 years of age, debuted in the Highlands District Cricket Association’s first grade competition playing for the Hilltop Cricket Club.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for November is Jack Donovan for Hockey.
Jack was selected to play with the Australian Open Indoor Hockey Squad in the Trans-Tasman Challenge in Taupo, New Zealand. They played eight matches against New Zealand, taking home the trophy, winning seven matches and drawing one. Jack was also re-selected in the Open Men’s NSW Indoor Hockey team.
December
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for November is Sia Knowles for Multiple Sports.
Sia, who was in her final year at Exeter Public School was awarded the Wingecarribee District Primary School Sports Association (PSSA) Sports Girl of the Year Award. This award recognised Sia’s excellence across a range of school sports. She represented Exeter Public in swimming, cross country, touch football, athletics and softball. Sia then went onto compete at a regional level in swimming and a state level in athletics and softball.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipients for December are Anneliese Wansey for Equestrian and Lucy Nash for Hockey
Anneliese Wansey was selected to represent Australia as one of four riders in Trans-Tasman Team Borrowed Horse competition in New Zealand. The competition will take place from 27th – 29th January 2023 at Larsens Showjumping Championships, in Gisborne, New Zealand. The annual competition takes place on borrowed horses, which are provided by the New Zealand team, which introduces the additional challenge for the riders of competing on an unfamiliar horse over a course of 1.20m in height.
Lucy, who is in Year 12 at Moss Vale High School, received a prestigious Sporting Blue from the NSW Combined High School (CHS) Sports Association. Lucy was one of 62 students out of 364 000 NSW public school students to be recognised with an NSW Blue award at Sydney Olympic Stadium in recognition for her contribution to NSW CHS Hockey.
