January
The Junior Monthly Award Recipients for January are Rory Shedden for Orienteering and Charlie Fannin for Water Polo.
Often it is just too hard for the Berrima District Sports Awards committee to split two incredible athletes and that was the case in January.
While many young teenagers spent their January holidays at the beach, twelve-year-old co-recipient Rory Shedden was avoiding mining pits and drainage ditches in the forests of Tasmania competing at the Oceania Orienteering Championships. He competed in five events at the championships though his best result was placing first in the first in the Under 14 middle distance event which was extra special as he had just turned twelve.
Co-recipient thirteen-year-old Charlie Fannin played with the Sydney University’s U14 #1 side at the Australian Water Polo Youth Championships held in Perth from 9–13 January. The team won the gold medal with Charlie the leading goal scorer and named as one of the top three Most Valuable Players of the tournament.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for January is Keira Hol for Rugby League.
Keira was named in the Illawarra Steelers team to play in the Tarsha Gale (U19) cup. On the 5th February the team played against the Penrith Panthers and came away with a 28-0 win and then after a BYE in Round 2 drew 10 all against Parramatta Eels in Round 3.
February
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for February is Drew Cooney for Athletics.
Drew competed at the Region 4 Little Athletics Championships held in Griffith on the 4th and 5th February. She came home with six medals from six events including gold in the U12 Girls high jump, long jump and 800m and silver in the triple jump, shot put and 400m.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for February is Lachlan Mineeff for Motor Sports.
Lachlan achieved his first podium finish in the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series at the Symmons Place Raceway in Tasmania on the 26th and 27th February. In the first race he finished 9th, then placed 2nd in the second race and rounded out the event with a 7th place in Race 3. This gave Lachlan a 6th place overall.
March
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for March is Hugh Hanrahan for Cricket.
In March, Hugh co-captained the South Coast Primary School Sports Association (PSSA) cricket team which played in Ballina at the NSWPSSA Championships. Out of 168 players across fourteen teams, Hugh was selected in the twelve person NSWPSSA State cricket team to play in Darwin at the national PSSA titles. Also in March, he was selected to trial for the South Coast PSSA touch football team as part of Zone team.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for March is Shane Duffy for Ultra Marathon.
April
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for April is Harry Keats for Athletics.
Harry competed in the Australian Junior Track and Field Championships in Brisbane from 13th – 16th April. He placed 2nd in the U14 800 metres and third in the 400 metres. Not a week later he was in Melbourne competing in the Australian Little Athletic Championships. Competing in the U13 age category, Harry came home with gold medals in the 400 metres and 800 metres, a sixth place in the 200 metres and a silver medal for the medley relay.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipients for April are Cameron Reynolds for Swimming and Gus Schofield for Hockey.
Two exceptional athletes could not be split for the senior award in April.
The first is Cameron Reynolds for Swimming. Those who can’t teach has never been further from the truth for Cameron. In April, Cameron not only coached two of his squad to National level but also brought eleven medals home from the Masters Swimming Australia National Championships. Held in Hobart from the 18th – 22nd April, Cameron brought home eleven medals from eleven events including five national championships. Swimming in the 35 – 39 years category, he brought home a gold medal in the 200 metre backstroke and a PB secured another national championship in the 200 metre Individual Medley event. Cameron added to the medal haul with silver medals in the 50 metre backstroke, 100 metre backstroke 100 metre freestyle and the 200m freestyle which was a NSW record. He rounded out his medal tally with a bronze in both the 50 metre freestyle and the 50 metre butterfly. Another three gold medals were won as part of 4 x 50 relay teams.
Co-senior recipient Gus Schofield once again donned the green and gold playing in the Australian Country Hockey team in Singapore and Malaysia in April. This was the third time that Gus has been selected in this national team and matches were played against the Singapore and Indonesian national sides, the Malaysian 21s national team and local Malaysian teams and Australia won seven of the nine contests.
May
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for May is Ruby Francis for Gymnastics.
Ruby Francis’ dedication to her passion for gymnastics was evident at the Australian Gymnastics Championships held at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre in May. Ruby performed eight routines over the two days in the Level 10 division. Level 10 is the highest level and Ruby won gold in the 13 and under All Round category and also gold in the Under 16 beam category. She again stepped up to the under 16s category, where she finished seventh on bar. This was the 2nd time competing at the national championships and representing NSW.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for May is Meaghan Stanton for Cycling.
Meaghan competed in the 2023 AusCycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships held in Wagga Wagga over the weekend of 27th and 28th May. Riders began with a 33km “start lap” venturing outside the MTB park and touring nearby wetlands adjacent to the Murrumbidgee River. They then continued the 83km race on the purpose built 25km track at the Pomingalarma Reserve. After over four hours in the saddle, Meaghan placed first and is the Women’s Masters 4 National Champion and was selected to represent Australia at the Masters World Championships.
June
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for June is Charlotte Withers for Athletics, Cross Country & Rugby League.
Charlotte was nominated for her achievements in Athletics, Cross Country and Rugby League but incredibly also competed in Netball, Mountain Bike Riding, League Tag, Hockey and Oz Tag during that month. She ran in the Regional Cross Country Carnival and then at the Zone Athletics Carnival, Charlotte placed first in the triple jump, discus and javelin breaking a 23 year old record in the 14 years javelin event. Charlotte also placed second in the long jump, high jump and 800m and ran the 100m. At the Regional Athletics Carnival, she placed first in the javelin and discus, second in the high jump, fourth in the triple jump and long jump, and sixth in the shot put. Also in June, Charlotte was named in the West Tigers U14 Roar Squad. Locally, she played for the U14 Mittagong Girls Rugby League team and also the U14 Mittagong Girls League Tag team. Charlotte, based on her excellent performance playing for the Razorbacks Oz Tag team at the City v Country event on June 17th, was selected in the Wolverines National U14 Oz Tag team. Charlotte played with the Moss Vale High School’s U15 team who won all seven matches at the Zone Carnival also in June. She also represented the Southern Highlands at the U14 Netball State Cup held over the June Long Weekend. As if representing Moss Vale High School in three sports wasn’t enough, Charlotte played in the school hockey team and also competed at the Coondoo Mountain Bike Classic 4 hour endurance placing second in mixed division.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for June is Emma O’Sullivan for Mountain Running.
Emma, who usually competes in the Masters 45-49 division, was selected by Athletics Australia to represent the nation in the Open Women’s team to race at the World Mountain and Trail Running championships in Innsbruck, Austria. Emma had won the open division at the NSW Mountain Running Championship in March running Orange’s Mt Canobolas and, after receiving her selection letter, had less than six weeks to prepare. Emma placed 91st which was an incredible achievement in an open international event.
July
The Junior Monthly Award Recipients for July are Phoenix Sparke for Winter Biathlon & Cross Country Ski-ing and Arabelle Thompson for Hockey.
Co-recipient Phoenix Sparke competed in the 2023 National Biathlon Championships on the 22nd and 23rd July. He placed second in the U18 Male Short course and first in the U18 Male Sprint. Phoenix then turned his attention to Cross Country Skiing and, on the 28th July, competed in 2023 Australian Classic Sprint Championships and placed third in the U20 division and sixth in the Open Division. His final events in July were the 2023 Australian XC Distance Championships and the FIS Continental Cup on July 30. Phoenix placed fifth overall in the Open Men’s 15km and was the third Australian over the line.
Co-recipient Arabelle Thompson travelled to Tasmania in July representing NSW at the 2023 School Sport U12s Australian Hockey Championships. It was the second year that she had played in the NSW team, but this year was named as team captain. Arabelle and her teammates won five of the six matches and she scored three goals. Her journey into the state team began playing for the Bowral Public School team, then selection into the Wingecarribee District team, followed by the Tablelands team and then the South Coast team.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for July is Tony Pycroft for Martial Arts.
Tony Pycroft competed in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation’s Asian Championships in Japan in the Black Belt division. Tony, who has been competing for fourteen years, claimed a gold medal in the Masters 3 Ultra Heavy category and then went on to claim another gold in the Masters Open Black Belt category. Tony also achieved success in Japan as a coach, with four of his students returning with medals.
August
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for August is Justin Murray for Hockey.
Justin competed at the U16s All Schools Hockey Championships in Adelaide from the 13th – 19th August representing the NSWCHS (Combined High School) team. Over the course of the competition, NSW won five of their six round matches and made the finals, only losing to Queensland 2 goals to 1. As a result of his sensational performance, Justin was selected into the School Sport Australia U16 Boys Hockey Team, just one of four boys from NSW.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for August is Anneliese Wansey for Equestrian.
Anneliese competed at the Waratah Showjumping World Cup from 17th – 22nd August in Sydney. On the Friday, she placed 5th in the Orangeville Performance Horses: Young Riders – 1.30m event riding Texas. Saturday saw Anneliese and Texas place second by less than one second in the JPR Equestrian Young Rider – 1.35m division and then, riding Gold Play, she placed third in the R & L Haulage: Adult – 1.10m event. On the final day of competition, Anneliese and Texas placed first in the Chatham Park: Futurity – 1.35m and then second riding Kolora Stud St Patrick in the Orangeville Performance Horses : Young Rider – 1.35 event. Also, over the four-day event, Anneliese representing Australia with three teammates, won the Trans-Tasman Young Rider Challenge. The last event on the program for the first three days of the competition, saw each of the riders complete two rounds of the show jumping course. All riders were on borrowed horses and Anneliese achieved two double clear rounds from the six rounds.
September
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for September is Tom Gair for Hockey.
Thirteen-year-old Tom had an exceptionally busy and successful September. After a two-day trial with sixty members of the NSW U13 State Hockey squad, Tom was selected as a member of the NSW U13 Lions Team. The Hockey Australia U13 Boys Carnival was held in Newcastle from the 23 – 29 September and the NSW Lions finished sixth out of the twelve teams contesting the championships.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for September is Sophie Dunn for Athletics.
Sophie spent her last official school holidays competing at state and national levels in one of her beloved sports, Athletics. On the 19th September, she competed at the NSWCIS (Combined Independent Schools) Athletics Championships in the 18/19 years division and placed first in the high jump, first in the long jump, second in the triple jump, fourth in the 100m, sixth in the 200m and finally, sixth in the Open 4 x 100m relay. Her success continued at the NSW All Schools Athletics Championships held from the 23‐25 September where she placed third, both in the long jump and triple jump.
October
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for October is April Rowley for Football.
For the third consecutive year, April has played in a NSW Country team and this year, played at the Under 16s National Youth Championships which was held in Wollongong from the 9th – 13th October.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for October is Peter Jensen for Cricket.
Based on exceptional performances earlier in the year including playing for Australia in the World Cup, contesting the ‘Grey Ashes’ in England and representing Australia in Canada, Peter was selected in the Australian squad for the Over 60s Cricket World Cup to be played in India in February and March 2024 and has also been named as captain of the team.
November
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for November is _________ for _________.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for November is __________ for _________.
December
The Junior Monthly Award Recipient for December is _________ for __________.
The Senior Monthly Award Recipient for December is _________ for __________.