The Northern Rivers Times
May 19, 2022
76 SPORT NEWS
All-female crew headline Female Football Week A networking evening that coincided with the NPL Women’s NNSW Match of the Round headlined Northern NSW Football’s 2022 Female Football Week celebrations. Female Football Week ran from Friday 6 May to Sunday 15 May, giving the football community the chance to celebrate the immense growth of the women’s game and acknowledge female players, coaches, referees and administrators in football. The marquee event of the week was the networking evening to be held at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Saturday 14 May. The night celebrated the accomplishments and contributions of women in football as well as volunteers who have donated hours of service to growing and improving the game for women and girls across northern NSW. Football Australia’s General Manager – World Cup Legacy Programs Carlee Millikin spoke about Football Australia’s FIFA Women’s World
Cup 2023 Legacy Plan (Legacy ’23) and how this would impact football for women and girls in the coming years. The NPL Women’s NNSW Match of the Round between Charlestown Azzurri and Newcastle Olympic followed the networking evening, on the grass pitch at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility. In addition to the networking evening, Northern NSW Football hosted another seven events across the week including a Coaching Masterclass conducted by Football Australia’s Women’s Technical Advisor and under-17s women’s head coach Rae Dower, while FIFA listed referee Kate Jacewicz conducted a Referee Masterclass. Jacewicz then led an all-female team of charge of the NPL Men’s NNSW Match of the Round between Charlestown Azzurri and Broadmeadow Magic at Lisle Carr Oval on Sunday.
NNSWF Local Northern NSW Football is delighted to announce the recipients of its inaugural Local Champion Awards for April. The NNSWF Local Champion Awards are a monthly recognition of individuals and teams who make a difference across the football family as we thank them for their commitment to their club, team, community and football. Volunteer of the Month Ben Perry – Italo Stars FC Ben Perry describes it as the most hectic day of his life. Ben is the vicepresident at Italo Stars FC. The Football Far North Coast club were one of the hardest hit by the northern NSW March and continue to affect large areas of the Northern Rivers and Clarence Valley. Ben and his Italo Stars teammate Nick Organ spent seven hours rescuing people from in Lismore at the start of the disaster. The pair met up at Ben’s place and used his driveway as a boat ramp to launch his 14-foot tinny into the murky engulfed much of the area. They pulled people from second and third story windows, from rooves and from people’s kitchens and loungerooms. Ben’s trusty tinny, normally used for crabbing and occasional
people comfortably. But there were times when they had up to 10 people and even a dog on board as Ben and Nick tirelessly ferried people to safety. “That Monday was pretty hectic. Probably the most hectic day I’ve ever had,” Ben said. “We were using the boat to get friends, family, strangers out of a pretty dire situation. There were hundreds of guys in boats who did a lot of good things in very dangerous conditions. “It’s mind-blowing now to think about how much water there was. We were ducking powerlines on the main road. You stand under a powerline and look up and see how high it is. This was the main street of Lismore. I don’t want to see that again.” The danger was everywhere. On their side was Ben’s and in a boat. But against them was the dangerous debris, the pouring rain and the volume of water. Hearing was impaired as the rain hammered down relentlessly, while the sound of windows smashing and desperate people screaming for
Then there was the danger of other boats and jet skis crisscrossing roads to reach people on rooftops. It was chaos. “We got hit by a large gas bottle. It felt like a whale coming up underneath the boat. It was pretty scary in that you just didn’t know what was happening,” Ben said. “The water was a dark brown, black colour. It was a bit surreal getting people out. There wasn’t anyone in shock until we got them out of there. Getting out of their houses people were just in survival mode. Once that was over that’s when people started breaking down. People were crying in the boat. “It was pretty traumatic. It probably didn’t really kick in until the week after. It took a while [to process]. It was a pretty full on thing that happened.” Ben’s association with Italo Stars goes back 30 years. He has been a player, a coach and even enjoyed a stint as club president. He has held most roles on the committee and was awarded life membership in 2016 as the club celebrated its 50th year.
He and a dedicated group of about 10 volunteers have spent countless hours cleaning up at the club in a desperate attempt to play football again this season. It took a few days before they could even reach the ground. Their club house had only been open three weeks following a two-year refurbishment. Their home at Barrow Lane was all but gone. They had lost everything. “I’ve never seen a war zone but that was as close as I’ll ever come to seeing a bomb hitting somewhere in Lismore,” Ben said. “We had lost all power. It was mind-blowing. Everything was gone. You think, where do you even start? “We just salvaged what we could. We found junior goals two or three kilometres away in someone’s front yard. Everyone knows everyone in the North Lismore community so I was getting phone calls where someone would say ‘we’ve found your goals in Mary’s front yard on so-and-so street’. “The second thing was hosing everything off and
Sports results Ballina Mahjong 13th May 2022 Coral Lavelle 1, Jan Rhodes 2, Gail McDonagh 3, Shirley Coleman 4, Pauline Kearney 5, Shirley Atkinson 6, Kath Hubbard 7, Wendy Thornton 8, June Grebert 9, Pam Farrell 10, Kathy Pickles 11, Joy Lowien 12, Ronda Taylor 13, Jan Henley 14, Jan Boardman 15, Lisa Wong 16, Sally Lowry 17, Shirley Henry 18. Mahjong is played on
Friday at 12:30pm at the Ballina Bridge Club North Creek Road. Enquiries for new players phone Vanessa on 66874181. Casino RSM Women’s Bowls Winners of our Major pairs championship : A. James & N. Moran Results from Wednesday 11/5 Today we had our last Singles championship. A. Williams def N.
Moran Congratulations to both bowlers it was a very close game all the way. A. Williams will play H. Lavelle In the Major singles championship Cherry Street Croquet Club ASSOCIATION CROQUET : G.Porter 22 d G.Drew H.Young 13 RICOCHET CROQUET :
