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Sharks players called up for national squad SOUTHERN Peninsula Sharks players Jaz Shelley and Olivia Pollerd will join the under-19s Australian squad in preparation for the under19s World Championships in Bangkok in July. The two Sharks’ players were selected to be apart of the World Championship team camp two weeks ago. The girls will join some of Australia’s best junior basketball talent for a weekend long camp in May. Southern Peninsula Sharks basketball operations manager Lucas Allen said they were both incredibly excited to join the squad. “For Jaz, she’s been to two World Championships already including the under-19s as a double bottom age. She’s been to that level before but she’ll still be excited to make the squad once again,” Allen said.
“For Olivia, she just missed out on the under17s team at last year’s World Championships so to be included in this squad, she’s a bit surprised about but she’s definitely very excited for it.” When looking at the Sharks women’s team last season, Allen only had positives to say about both of the players. “[Olivia] was an important part of the team in particular with her shooting and her size,” he said. “Jaz was obviously a very critical player for the team as well.” The players were chosen for the squad by talent identification from various tournaments and camps leading up to selection. The final squad will be selected for their camp in May.
Green and gold: Southern Peninsula Sharks player Jaz Shelley will join the Australian under-19s squad alongside Sharks teammate, Olivia Pollerd. Picture: Supplied
Top class: Anthony Freedman-trained Shoals lands her second Group 1 victory in devastating fashion last year. Picture: Supplied
Stable stars impress at jumpouts ANTHONY Freedman’s stable stars Santa Ana Lane and Shoals stepped out in a handy jumpout at Balnarring on Wednesday 27 February. The talented pair, who have recorded seven Group 1 victories and just shy of $6 million between them, finished first and second in the second heat of the morning and look right on track for their return to the races. Santa Ana Lane was allowed to find his feet at the back of the small field before working home powerfully to finish two lengths off his stablemate Shoals, who led from start to finish, in the 1000-metre gallop. Pinecliff-based assistant trainer and Anthony’s son, Sam Freedman, said Santa Ana Lane will be prepared for the Newmarket Handicap at Flemington on Saturday 2 March before heading to Sydney for the $2.5 million T.J. Smith Stakes (1200m) during The Championships. Group 1 options in Hong Kong and the UK remain on the radar later in the season. “He and Shoals were in the same heat this morning,” Freedman said.
“{Shoals} won it and he finished second, beaten about a length. “We wanted to give him a pretty solid hit-out and we were very pleased with his effort. “The Newmarket looks a nice option for him first-up. We wouldn’t be going there expecting him to win but he can definitely run well and what we’ve seen previously with him is that he improves into his campaign.” Freedman said Shoals had overcome a minor setback that had forced her scratching from the Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield on Saturday 23 February. Connections are now considering first-up options in Melbourne and Sydney over the coming fortnight. “She’s over the little issue she had last week and she’s ready to go to the races now,” Freedman said. “She’ll potentially head to the Newmarket as well, or maybe the Canterbury Stakes in Sydney. “She’s had the three jumpouts now so whether it’s 1200m or 1300m first-up, she should have the grounding to run very well.”
Alexandra Park, the heart of a community FOR many visitors to Mornington and for many of its residents, Alexandra Park is the place at the top of Main Street to play footy, cricket and netball. Most people drive past Alexandra Park on the way to sampling the delights of “the street”, or to drop off the kids for their weekend sport. Few, if any, give a second thought about the history that permeates every sod, every blade of grass, every brick and every plank that make up the community space. For those lucky enough to remember before World War I, Alexandra Park would mean more than bristling local derbies or the crack of willow on leather. In the minds of these senior residents, there may be recollections of thundering hooves, or the glint of axe heads being raised to meet the sunlight before crashing down to splinter
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wood. Or, it may be memories of army pageantry and the pomp and ceremony of bands that led processions from Main Street to the park for afternoon tea and a recital. While the very earliest history of Alexandra Park is sketchy, including its naming, records held by the Mornington and District Historical Society show the then Shire of Mornington bought the area now known as Alexandra Park in 1896. For millennia before that it was part of the territory inhabited by the Bunurong people, part of the Kulin nation, whose descendants live among us today and whose interests are represented by the Boon Wurrung Foundation. So, while footy and cricket play a big part in the story of Alexandra Park they are by no means the only sporting endeavors to have been staged there over the decades.
Mornington News 5 March 2019
There were also wood chopping competitions in the 1950s and even boomerang and spear throwing exhibitions by Aborigines, although to which tribe these individuals belonged is not mentioned in the historical records. As part of a Boxing Day carnival in 1934, nine camels from central Australia made up a picnic camel race meeting at Alexandra Park. A tennis tournament on the park’s grass was also part of the same carnival. And then there was the Mornington Athletics Carnival of 1945 where the shire provided for up to 5000 spectators and prepared a world class track at the park. The feature race, the “Mornington Gift” was one of the richest and most prestigious foot races in the country at that time, alongside the Stawell Gift. Alexandra Park has also been used for some of the biggest events and
camps on the Mornington Peninsula, including gymkhanas. Gymkhanas were popular on the peninsula from the early to the mid1900s; they were essentially an event to celebrate horsemanship although there were also motorcycle varieties as well. Alexandra Park was also the setting for some of the biggest camps on the peninsula. On Boxing Day 1931, about 280 men of the 24th Battalion representing Camberwell, Croydon and Surrey Hills set up camp for 10 days engaging in activities such as inter-company cricket matches. The Alpha Social Club used the park for Christmas holiday camps in the 1940s on more than one occasion, some of which were attended by more than 400 people, as did the Presbyterian Young Men’s Fellowship in the late 1920s and the scouts on regular
occasions. All of which shows how valuable an asset Alexandra Park has been, and still is, to the local and wider community. Thanks should be given to the Mornington football and cricket clubs for the work they have done in maintaining and developing the area for more than a century. The Mornington Shire (1894 to 1994) and now the Mornington Peninsula Shire should also be acknowledged for their investment and management of the park. At the end of the day, as history has shown, although people from far and wide have used the magnificent field and amenities of Alexandra Park for many purposes, it will always be a place for all the people of the shire to enjoy.