Sport
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Top athletes train at Byron pool
The top-notch athletes in Byron Bay for a training session at the pool included: Jess Fox, Jordan Mercer, Saya Sakakibara, Julian Wilson, Robbie Maddison, Jonny Durand, Chumpy Pullin, Cory Teunissen, Mick Fanning, Shane Van Gisbergen, Craig Lowndes, Travis Boak, Jackson Pilz, Matt Poole, Courtney Atkinson and Toby Price. Photo supplied. Ross Kendall
Former world champion surfer Mick Fanning joined a group of elite sports people at the Byron Bay swimming pool last month as part of an athlete summit organised by Red Bull.
The event gave the athletes the opportunity to get together, build relationships and share tips, a Red Bull organiser Lauren McMahon said. Activities at the pool were overseen by a performance coach and included breath-
holding holding techniques. Other athletes attending included Jess fox (world champion slalom canoeist), Jordan Mercer (iron woman), Saya Sakakibara (BMX world champion) and Robbie Maddison (motorbike stunt rider).
Users plan rally to stop proposed ‘commercialisation’ of Recreation Grounds The Byron Bay Recreation Users Group are holding a rally this Saturday to protest Council’s plans to change the category of town’s traditional sportsfields. Last week the mayor Simon Richardson said the number one priority for the future management of the Byron Bay Recreation Ground was for the area to continue to be used by sports clubs and the community for a wide range of sports including football, cricket, tennis and rugby union. Suggestions that sporting clubs would be forced off the fields was simply untrue, he said. ‘Byron Shire Council has no intention of limiting or
changing the use of the Rec Ground for sports activities and rumours that the playing fields will be downgraded so they are unable to be used for regional competitions and fixtures are incorrect,’ he said. But the council is trying to change the category of the area from sportsground to general community use that would allow a range of different activities such as an outdoor cinema, a festival, or for a one-off concert. Past experience has shown that traditional sports groups come off second best compared to financial arrangements, user group representative John McKay said. ‘Commercialisation and organised sport are incom-
patible,’ he said. ‘They can interfere with a local sports club’s obligations and relationship to their governing bodies,’ he said. The users group represents more than 1000 members and ‘we feel very vulnerable,’ he said. ‘If these changes go though, traditional sporting clubs can be usurped,’ he said. ‘We are the community and we want to show the council we don’t want these changes to go through.’ The community rally to protect the Recreation Grounds will include speakers, music and food. Saturday December 9, from 10am at the Byron Recreation Grounds.
Tintenbar-East Ballina top third grade cricket Tintenbar-East Ballina Weeds have batted their way to the top of the Ballina District Cricket Association thirdgrade ladder with a strong win over Byron Bay on the weekend. Playing at home Byron Bay won the toss and put the Tintenbar-East Ballina Weeds into bat, and the visitors made few mistakes. They hit their way to 284 off 35 overs. Byron struggled for wick-
ets early but when they had the weeds 1/75 they soon fell to 6/134 before Brett Crawford came to the crease and scored 97. Best bowlers for Byron included: S McCarthy 4/36 off five and E Kaehler 3/38 off six overs In response Byron’s Tim Goodhind backed up his two catches behind the stumps with 63 runs and next best scorer was Greg Travena with 19.
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But Byron never found the middle like the Weeds and were 9/147 off their 40 overs. T Watkins was the pick of the Weeds bowlers with 4/28 off nine overs. The win puts the Weeds on top of the ladder, but only just. The Bangalow side is just one competition point behind on 46 and has a game in hand. Lennox Head is in third position on 35 points.
Nyxie Ryan new U/16 Australian All Star School champion
Nyxie Ryan on her way to a national championship win. Photo Steve Conti/SA Crystal Cylinders
Lennox Head’s Nyxie Ryan is the new U/16 Girls All Star School Surfing Australian Champion. She is just one of our local junior surfers who had success at the 2017 Surf Dive n Ski Australian Junior Surfing Titles held at Culburra Beach on the NSW south coast over the past week. The event is considered the pinnacle for Australia’s junior surfers. Ryan also teamed up with Lennox Head’s Kobi Curtis to represent Byron Bay High School and they finished runner-up in the Mark Richards Shield U/16 Girls division. In the individual divisions
Touma Cameron from Suffolk Park had a career-best result with a third place in the U/14 Boys Australian Titles. Jai Glinderman and Jack O’Brien both from Lennox Head finished in the quarters of the U/14 Boys.
Pros at Sunset With a chance to make the qualification cut on the line our three local pro surfers had a good go at The Vans World Cup at Sunset Beach where some big waves on offer produced great surfing performances. Byron Bay’s Soli Bailey got third in his round of 96 finishing in equal 65th, Adam Melling made it one round further finishing in equal
33rd position and Stu Kennedy came close to qualification with a quarter-final berth to finish in equal 13th place. With the final Qualifying Series event finished for 2017 the rankings are locked in apart from a couple of surfers waiting to see if the final Championship Tour event at Pipeline throws up some double qualifiers. Our local surfers finished the year on the QS circuit as follows: Bailey 54th, Melling 47th and Kennedy 19th. Stu still has the Pipeline competition to finish the year and mathematically has a slim chance to re-qualify with a huge result at one of the tour’s more challenging waves.
True Wheels Cycles team comes second in Kingscliff triathlon The Kingscliff Triathlon went ahead in good conditions last weekend and welcomed more than 1,200 athletes plus nearly 3,000 supporters from across New South Wales and Queensland. Despite worries about potential wet weather, the race went start to finish without rain and athletes enjoyed good race conditions, race director Michael Crawley said. Competition was very tight in the elite categories with the Men’s Open category being taken by Brandon Copeland in first, Bill Chaffey and then Adam Gordon. The Women’s Open was won by Gillian Backhouse ahead of Courtney Gilfillan and Holly Khan. Local paratriathlete Bill Chaffey finished with the second overall fastest time on the day. The True Wheels Cycles team from Mullumbimby finished second in the Olympic
Copeland on his way to winning the Kingscliff Triathlon main event. Photo supplied
Relay team event, coming in less than four minutes behind the winners – the Coomera Comets. The event’s official charity is the Cudgen Headlands Surf Life Saving Club and organisers also helped raise funds for a number of other community groups including Tweed South Rotary, Pottsville & District Mens Shed, Currumbin Dragon Boaters; Tweed Raiders Junior Rugby
League Club; Tweed Valley Tri Club; and Murwillumbah Venturer Scouts. It is projected more than $10,000 will be raised for local charities, community groups, and the employment of local young people as a result. The Kingscliff Triathlon is back on March 18, when it will host both State Series and State Championship races.
The Byron Shire Echo December 6, 2017 69