Sport
North Coast news daily:
To the lighthouse or bust (or not) Lisa Parkes
Many of us love the walk to the lighthouse and, let’s face it, it’s a great way to get fit, feel good and enjoy the beautiful area in which we live. Did you know the 10km fun run/walk (to the lighthouse), raising funds for charity, will be held in Byron Bay on 15 October? Commencing at Main Beach, participants will run along the beach to The Pass then around the lighthouse by road, and along Tallow Beach, before returning via the recreation grounds to Clarkes Beach and then along the beach to the start/finish line at Main Beach. This route is designed to make the most of our unique landscape and fits with Byron Bay’s vibrant and healthy outdoor character. We would love to see the whole community become involved with this great event, get fit, have fun and raise money for cancer research.
Having way, way, way too much fun, local runner Bec Smith enjoyed last year’s event so much she is heading back for another trip to the lighthouse on October 15. Photo Tree Faerie
So how should I prepare my body for this event? And what training regime should I follow? The first thing is to establish the goal you wish to achieve. This may be to run
the whole thing, to complete the course within a certain time frame, to run for a certain amount of time, or just to walk the route. Regardless of your goal you need to start a training
regime so that you can attain your goal, and not suffer with aching muscles after the event. Registrations are already open for this year’s event; go to www.byronrun.com.
From Byron to Bowral for country champs NSW Rugby Union Country Championship on the weekend with the Far North Coast (FNC) representative team making the long trip to compete in the two-day carnival. Byron Bay had a strong showing with five of our players – Aaron Shakeshaft, Craig Wallace, Sion King, Harvey Bell and Charles Woollard – all seeing plenty of game time over the weekend. The team was coached by our own Paul Jeffery, who had the difficult task of trying to tame and lead a group of players who are usually foes in the local derbies but come together to represent the far north coast for the Country Champs. The first game was played on Saturday morning against the Mid North Coast Zone team in cold, extremely muddy conditions; however the FNC was able to overcome both the weather and their opposition to kick off their campaign in emphatic fashion. The win gave the boys a shot at making the finals the following day, but standing in their way was an in-form Central North outfit. The wet conditions meant the game was played in close quarters with both forward packs scrambling for precious metres. Despite some lengthy phases and strong attacking manoeuvres from our boys, neither side was able to break
Loving in that good ol’ rugby mud, Byron reps for the Far North Coast team: Harvey Bell, Sion King, Craig Wallace, Paul Jeffery (coach), Aaron Shakeshaft and Charles Woollard.
the deadlock and by the final whistle the scores remained at 0–0. To determine who would progress through to the finals the outcome of the game was decided via a toss of the coin, with the FNC side cruelly losing in the unluckiest of ways The ‘loss’ put our team in a playoff for third position against Western Plains, which was played in atrocious conditions. Attacking flair but an even stronger defensive effort resulted in a comprehensive 20–0 victory for FNC, securing third position for the
38 May 6, 2015 The Byron Shire Echo
championship. To highlight the impressive performance from the boys, in three games our side went undefeated (on the field) and only conceded the one try. The pick of the players over the entire weekend were Grant Knight, Harry Witt and Harvey Bell. Harvey’s strong showing has brought him into contention for selection in the NSW Country Squad. The good news for Byron supporters, rugby enthusiasts and locals alike is that Byron Bay hosts the Casino Bulls
this coming Saturday 9 May at the Byron Rec Fields. The Bay has had a strong start to the season and is currently sitting third on the table. The team continues to grow and with the arrival of our new prop, Jack Elborn, the forward pack is looking even stronger. So for a fun afternoon of rugby, sunshine (hopefully), cold beverages and community spirit come down and support our local lads as we take on Casino this Saturday – kick-off is 3.20pm. Go The Bay!
netdaily.net.au
When Australia goes to Rio The latest assessment of sport has predicted the Australian team at next year’s Olympic and Paralympic games in Rio will perform better than it did at the London games in 2012. Releasing the AIS Sports Tally 2015 – the annual report card for Australian sports – AIS director Matt Favier said that high-performance sport was heading in the right direction. ‘The reality is, in cut-throat world class competition, being world’s best comes down to minuscule margins, which makes predicting the future a difficult task,’ Favier said. ‘Australia has made good progress throughout 2014 and I’m confident we will finish well within the top ten in Rio. ‘Should this happen, it will be the first time since the 2000 Olympics an Australian team has improved its overall position from the previous games. ‘Australia’s position in the top ten will be decided by our athletes’ level of conversion from bronze and silver medals to gold medals. ‘The only certainty is that the competition in Rio will be extraordinarily tough. ‘The Glasgow Commonwealth Games last year showed how competitive international sport has become but we are certain the changes made since London under Australia’s Winning Edge have our sports on the right track for long-term, sustainable success.’
Sports Tally was one of a raft of initiatives under Australia’s Winning Edge, a 10year strategy that includes the target of finishing in the top five at the Olympic and Paralympic games. It reviews how Australia’s national sporting organisations have performed over the past year, provides a forecast for the year ahead and an honest and public appraisal of the performance of each Winning Edge-funded sport. ‘The Olympic and Paralympic targets announced under Winning Edge were ambitious, and the plan bold. The one thing that Australians can be sure of is that the AIS remains committed to the Winning Edge strategy,’ he said. In 2014 the AIS oversaw many more changes to the sports sector including the re-allocation of $20 million of high-performance funding among sports, an increased share of funding to our foundation sports from 64 to 71 per cent and a boost in direct athlete funding – or AIS – by $3.6 million. ‘We are building a more agile system under the Winning Edge to get the right support to the right sports and the right athletes and we are committed to making further adjustments to investments where there is a compelling case as Rio approaches,’ he said. From the AIS website: www.ausport.gov.au.
Owing to the fact that this weekend pretty much all sport was cancelled because of the weather, here are some cute little fluffy ducks. Nawwwwww...
Find out more – see page 11
Byron Shire Echo archives: www.echo.net.au/byron-echo