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Sportswatch watch Summer 2017

What’s Inside From the QSport Office Page 3 A golden future for sport Page 5 AFL Women’s League off to great start Page 9 QLD Government ups support for State level sport bodies Page 12 Sports input into Blue Card review Page 13 AGM’s set for 29 March Page 14 More help for kids to get started in sport Page 15 Women to the fore at Sports Awards Page 16 Gold Coast Comm Games a step towards a local Australian Olympics Page 18 Apply to be a Volunteer at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 Page 26

Three members of the 2016 all Queensland based Australian Women’s 4 x 100 metres freestyle Olympic Gold Medal winning team awarded XXXX Queensland Sport Team of the Year at the Queensland Sport Awards / Hall of Fame Presentation in December on a big night for women in sport. From left: Bronte Campbell, sister Cate and Emma McKeon. More inside.

QSport set revised course for 2017-20 Queensland’s sports collective will work to a revamped strategic direction for the remainder of this decade following a lengthy review and planning process over the greater part of 2016.

The way forward devised by the QSport Board takes account of Sports Federation activities in other States and information gleaned last year from QSport member State sporting organisations and the Queensland Government.

The Board’s vision is for QSport to be the voice for sport in Queensland, consistent with its role as the representative body for organised sport in this State.

Its purpose will be to continue to influence and assist the growth and development of sport in Queensland, continuing to work with members to grow their activities and developing their people via a range of developmental opportunities.

Aligning the Queensland sport sector with government policies and programs, wherever possible, is a key plank and dialogue between QSport and the State, at ministerial and agency level, will be vital to progressing the plan over the next few years.

Sportswatch is a quarterly publication of QSport which is an independent collective of State sporting organisations established to enhance the development of sport in Queensland. Sportswatch aims to inform readers and views expressed in Sportswatch are not necessarily those of QSport. No responsibility is accepted by QSport for consequences emanating from actions or failures to act on material within this publication.

For contributions, advertisements and enquiries, contact the QSport Office at Sports House, Cnr Castlemaine and Caxton Streets MILTON Q 4064 Telephone 07 3369 8955 Facsimile 07 3369 8977 Email admin@qsport.org.au

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Sportswatch - Summer 2017

From the

This summer edition of Sportswatch arrives in February of a new year in 2017, the last of the three months of the summer season that began back in December.

The calendar year 2016 brought a fair amount of additional anxiety to the world in which we live, according to some commentators, and let’s just say that from where I sit in the QSport Office, I agree with that commentary.

So, out with 2016 and on with 2017, I say, hoping like many that the year ahead gives rise to a more optimistic end than the year past – for the world, the country, the community in which we live.

If I think back over 2016 and fix on the one liner that stuck with me the most, it would be “it is what it is”.

In the context in which it first struck me, it was code for “don’t waste your energy trying to change something you can’t and get on with what you can do to do the best you can”.

Not always easy but ultimately the course of action most likely to change things for the better.

So on the last work day of the year for me in 2016 prior to going leave over Xmas, at the last gathering of the QSport Board, staff and some members in mid-December, some nine months on since I first heard it, the “it is what it is” message resulted in a revised strategic direction for the State’s sports collective for the remainder of the decade.

The task now is to confirm support for that plan with stakeholders, a process that will be underway by the time this edition of Sportswatch appears and prior to the QSport Board’s first meeting of the year on 24 February.

That meeting will reflect on a number of things that have come to light over the past few Sportswatch - Summer 2017

months, including the arrival of new Federal and Queensland Minister for Sport in Greg Hunt and Mick de Brenni and further material that has surfaced on the relationship between the Australian Sports Commission’s Chair John Wylie and Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates over who’s running sport in this country.

It’s a question that needs to be addressed and not just at Federal level, given the Australian Sports Commission is not the only government agency in this country that thinks it is leading the sport sector in its respective jurisdiction.

Looking back over December – January just passed, the performance of women and girls in Queensland sport during 2016, borne out in a majority of contenders and ultimately winners at the Sport Awards, was noteworthy, as was the support for the pink ball Test at the Gabba and the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League, both at home games and on television.

The summer sporting scene is certainly a more diverse one than in earlier times.

By the time this column is being read, the inaugural AFL Women’s League, the Global Rugby Tens and the new all Australian netball competition will have been held or started, before April when a Horn / Pacquiao world boxing title stoush at Suncorp would add another dimension, less than 12 months out from next year’s Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

All of that and the return of the traditional winter season sporting competitions means a veritable sporting smorgasbord lies ahead.

Peter Cummiskey CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER 3

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A golden future for sport While the Gold Coast is worldrenowned for its sun, surf and sand, the city is proving it can kick big goals in a range of industries, emerging as one of Asia-Pacific’s elite sporting destinations.

In the lead up to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games™ (GC2018), the Australian city is undergoing major transformation and investing in key infrastructure projects with approximately $12bn in major developments planned or underway. This development, combined with the Gold Coast’s enviable natural environment and its proven strengths in hosting large-scale sporting events has seen the city step out onto the world stage and be recognised for its evolving sporting culture.

The Gold Coast is carving a niche as a city recognised for sport excellence and innovation; from cutting-edge research in sport science and leading coaching techniques to innovative product development and manufacturing. Further bolstering the city’s success as an emerging sport powerhouse is the growing number of highprofile sports teams that choose to train on the Gold Coast.

PREPARATION FOR THE GOLD COAST 2018 COMMONWEALTH GAMES™ The international spotlight will be on the Gold Coast in 2018 when the city hosts one of the largest multi-sport events in the world. In preparation, the City of Gold Coast is embracing transformative projects with approximately $12 billion in major infrastructure projects planned or underway. This includes approximately $200 million in new and upgraded sporting infrastructure, building on the city’s existing high performance sports facilities.

For the city, GC2018 is more than an event hosting experience; it is a once-in-a generation opportunity to bring about rapid transformation across the economy and community, while showcasing the city as an emerging global destination.

Sportswatch - Summer 2017

MAJOR EVENT HOSTING The Gold Coast has an ambitious event acquisition strategy and has invested significantly to grow its existing event portfolio.

The city has successfully hosted the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, 2015 and 2016 FINA Diving Grand Prix and 2015–2018 International Triathlon Union World Triathlon Series. On the back of these successful events, the Gold Coast is preparing to host the 2017 Sudirman Cup World Team Badminton championships, Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games™ and 2020 World Bowls Championships.

However, the city isn’t just looking internationally to build its event portfolio having supported 58 state and national championships since 2014 worth $26.6 million, including the 2016 Volleyball Australia Junior National Championships and the 2016 AFL Masters National Championships.

ELITE TRAINING DESTINATION Over the last two years, the Gold Coast has hosted elite teams including Manchester City Football Club, Spanish Villareal CF Football Club, English Rugby League Team and the American, Canadian, Chinese and Japanese swim teams for pre-event or pre-season training.

The Gold Coast also welcomed a number of Australian national teams including the Australian Women’s Basketball team and the Australian Women’s Cricket team. Meanwhile, the Australian Institute of Sport calls the Gold Coast home for its sprint canoe, triathlon and BMX programs, with Swimming Australia also having a number of endorsed training facilities on the Gold Coast.

The city is also the base for a large number of high-profile athletes including Sally Pearson, Cameron McEvoy, Mick Fanning and Emma Moffatt, who are supported by some of the world’s best coaching, management and medical staff.

ENVIABLE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT With a sub-tropical environment, the city experiences an average of 10 hours of sunshine 5

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Sportswatch - Summer 2017

for approximately 300 days of the year. The climate makes training possible year-round.

Unparalleled natural assets give athletes access to 57 kilometres of coastline, 21,000 hectares of parklands, 200 kilometres of navigable waterways and heritage-listed rainforests for training and recovery sessions. As the city has grown it has maintained its natural environment, with specialised management of key natural assets to enhance and ensure long-term sustainability. In addition, Southern Gold Coast surfing beaches were recently classified as a world surfing reserve, protecting the future of the city’s iconic breaks.

WORLD-CLASS FACILITIES With the ability to host one of the largest multisport events in the world, the Gold Coast inevitably boasts a well-rounded portfolio of international-standard competition venues. With the city’s sport mindedness, many of its premier competition venues are made available to professional teams for pre-event training camps and friendly competition matches.

Gold Coast has two multi-purpose stadiums, two flexible indoor sporting arenas, international standard aquatics centres, diving facilities, and three Olympic-standard athletics tracks. There are also sport-specific venues for hockey, tennis, basketball, cricket, beach volleyball, gymnastics, lawn bowls and sailing.

The Australian Women’s Basketball team regularly uses the Gold Coast for its high performance training camps. “The most important thing for us is being able to get access to the best facilities,” said Tamara Sheppard, Australian Women’s Basketball Team Manager. “Training on the Gold Coast we know we can get access to the best facilities so our team can focus on getting the job done. “It is also important to keep our team happy and that’s something we know we can count on when we travel to the Gold Coast.”

INDUSTRY RECOGNITION The Gold Coast is racing up the ladder of the world’s top sporting cities. Respected British company, Sport Business International, has recognised the success of the city by honouring the Gold Coast as the Best Newcomer in its bi-annual Ultimate Sports Cities Rankings and Awards which considered submissions from 150 Sportswatch - Summer 2017

destinations around the world.

The Gold Coast had a meteoric rise up 39 places of the Sportcal Global Sports Index, ranking it as the 18th top sporting city in the world – auguring well for the city as it heads towards GC2018.

Head judge of the Ultimate Sports Cities Rankings, Rachael Church, was delighted to award the Gold Coast Best Newcomer. “Using events such as GC2018 to develop new infrastructure and revitalise existing infrastructure, Australia’s Gold Coast is a city coming of age,” Church said.

PEAK SPORTING BODIES Leading Australian sporting bodies have secured their future on the Gold Coast, investing in headquarters and elite training facilities for their codes. Baseball Australia, Surfing Australia, Mountain Bike Australia, V8 Supercars and Triathlon Australia are among a growing number of organisations capitalising on the city’s sporting excellence.

Olympian and CEO of Triathlon Australia, Miles Stewart, said the Gold Coast has everything any high performance athlete would want in terms of training facilities and lifestyle. He said the Gold Coast’s accessibility to the rest of the country and international flying routes makes it a perfect destination for elite athletes to base themselves and host competitions. “The climate is key – our athletes have the ability to climb (cycle or run) mountains just 15 minutes from the city where they can breathe clean air which is an enormous advantage,” he said “In addition, we also have some of the best coaches in the country if not the world.”

CUTTING-EDGE SPORT SCIENCE The Gold Coast is pushing for excellence and innovation in health and knowledge related sectors, with cutting-edge research in sports sciences and world-leading specialists in the fields of physiotherapy, physiology, psychology, biochemistry, biomechanics and strength and conditioning.

The city is home to three world-class universities – Bond, Griffith and Southern Cross – each a centre for sport excellence, offering state-of-theart testing facilities and clinicians with extensive experience treating national, international and Olympic level athletes. The Bond University Sport Research Centre is at the forefront of the industry undertaking Australia’s largest sports

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science research project and having established Australia’s first Doctor of Physiotherapy program. Griffith University’s Sport and Exercise Science Research Laboratories include stateof-the-art motion analysis and performance testing equipment. Professors from Griffith University’s Menzies Health Institute Queensland are undertaking research in a range of areas including injury prevention strategies.

The city is also home to an Altitude Training Centre that works with coaches and athletes in the areas of Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT) for sports performance and rehabilitation.

INDUSTRY INNOVATION The city has become a hub for cutting-edge sport businesses; from manufacturers of high performance sporting apparel, equipment and nutritional products to experts in sports coaching and management. The Gold Coast is a classic example of industry co-location, providing city-specific opportunities for the industry to collaborate, innovate and grow. It’s a city where: • leading sports academics partner with professional athletes to research, design and manufacture leading high-performance sports apparel; • universities partner with commercial enterprises to secure grants to research environmentally friendly garment materials; • junior athletes directly access and partner with world-leading sporting apparel brands; • a company founded on sports nutrition turns its talent into creating premium pressure garments for elite athletes; • technology specialists partner with elite athletes to develop market-leading sports applications; • a university partners with one of the largest sporting events in the world – GC2018.

ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION The Gold Coast’s success in building a globally recognised sports city is testament to its forwardthinking and bold attitude towards growth and development. GC2018 is a catalyst for the city to galvanise and deliver once-in-a-generation, citytransforming legacy projects. The development of the Commonwealth Games Village is one of the largest urban renewal projects undertaken on the Gold Coast and post GC2018, it will form the key residential, commercial and retail centre for the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct.

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The co-location of the Commonwealth Games Village with a world-leading teaching and research university, Gold Coast University Hospital and allied medical facilities is creating a knowledge hub that has the capacity to attract internationally recognised researchers, clinicians and enterprises – once again boosting the city onto the world stage.

The economy is growing from a platform of tourism and construction to a diverse knowledgebased economic environment, with expertise in the sport, health and education sectors. As a relatively young city in transformation, the best is yet to come.

GOLD COAST SPORTS EVENTS The Gold Coast’s major events include: • 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships • 2015 and 2016 FINA Diving Grand Prix • 2015–2019 Australian Open Lawn Bowls • 2017–2019 Australian Open (Table Tennis) • 2017 World Team Badminton Championships (Sudirman Cup) • 2017/19/20/21 Australian Surf Life Saving Championships • Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games™ • 2020 World Bowls Championship The Gold Coast’s annual events include: • Magic Millions Racing Carnival • Quiksilver and Roxy Professional Surfing (World Surfing League event) • Gold Coast Triathlon including the 2015 – 2018 International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Triathlon Series • Gold Coast Airport Marathon • Australian University Games (biennial) • Coolangatta Gold • Gold Coast 600 - V8 Supercars • Pan Pacific Masters Games (biennial) • Australian PGA Championships (golf)

CONTACT The City of Gold Coast’s has a dedicated team that assists peak sporting bodies, clubs and teams interested in hosting their event or training camp at the Gold Coast.

Web: www.sportgoldcoast.com.au Email: sport@goldcoast.com.au Tel: 07 5581 7269

Sportswatch - Summer 2017

AFL Women’s League off to great start The profile of women and girls sport has lifted another notch in the past few weeks with the build up to and media coverage following the opening round of the inaugural AFL Women’s competition in early February.

Melbourne Demons opponents and the other six teams in the fledging completion on notice with a solid first up win in front of some 6,500 that nudged the opening round attendance past the 50,000 mark.

It’s no secret that Melbournians love their AFL. So do many Queenslanders and while over 50,000 people turning up on the first weekend in footy mad Melbourne and Adelaide was the story of the round, the television ratings (and a first up win by the Brisbane Lions women) will be what also pleased AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan and the AFL Commission.

So while “another step for mankind” might be a bit of a stretch, it was definitely a great leap forward for women and girls sport in this country that over time, with the resources the AFL has and will continue to throw at its new arrival, will enhance the notion of greater opportunity for all in sport.

The eight team women’s competition is one of the biggest steps, if not the biggest step, forward for women’s sport here for quite a while, indeed for about six months since the Australian women’s rugby sevens won gold at the Olympics in Rio. With the competition’s establishment brought forward by a couple of years to keep abreast of the growth in elite competition opportunities in other sports, the expectations of an opening round such as the one the AFL experienced on 3-5 February would not have been as optimistic when the decision was taken to push ahead faster than originally intended.

But with Melbourne in particular offering up a Carlton vs Collingwood opener at the old Princes Park on a Friday night and entrance to the event free, it was not that surprising with the media build up that some 25,000 turned up to see history for sport in that sport mad city.

It was a bit different out at outer suburban Casey Field on the Sunday afternoon in wet conditions where the Brisbane Lions women put their Sportswatch - Summer 2017

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Queensland Government ups support for State level sport and recreation bodies.

QSport member State sporting organisations (SSO’s) are the major beneficiaries of State Government support for State level organisations under the 2017-19 State Development program announced by Treasurer and then Minister for Sport Curtis Pitt late last year.

In the meantime, discussion with the State via the Department of National Parks, Sport and Racing (DNPSR) as the agency responsible to Minister Pitt for negotiating the level of State support for the pursuit of the plan is expected to take place, also before the Board meets on 24 February.

Of the 77 Queensland State level organisations with funding approved for the next three years, 63 are QSport member SSO’s. The State Development Program allocation of over $10million per annum continues support at the highest level of any State Government in this country, support that has continued under both LNP and Labor Governments over the years in acknowledgment of the vital coordinating role of SSO’s in the most decentralised State population wise in the Commonwealth.

Support available no doubt is a major factor in how well any plan progresses and this one will be no different.

The intent of the plan arguably is to extend the QSport reach after three years of containment brought on by reduced support and a narrower specification in funded activity than applied in earlier times.

Next best allocation of this type across the States in WA’s $8million to help 102 State sporting organisations and peak bodies run their organisations and stay sustainable for their members.

The Queensland allocation does not include at least $500,000 per annum that has been indicated to QSport and the Queensland Outdoor Recreation Federation as available for the two peaks in this State to help pursue their plans to assist the development of sport and recreation.

For QSport, its revamped Strategic Plan for 2017-19 focusses on three pillars or drivers in Leadership and Promotion, Capability and Capacity, and Sector Support and Development.

At its 14 December meeting, the QSport Board cleared the plan for discussion with members and agreed the plan be operationalised for consideration at the next Board meeting on 24 February.

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Sports input to Blue Card Review Twenty five representatives of QSport member State sporting organisations have met to hear from Queensland Family & Child Commission representatives on the current Review of the Blue Card System being carried out for the Queensland Government.

A forum held on 7 February at Sports House, Milton, Brisbane convened by QSport was briefed on the background to the review, its terms of reference and progress to date and an update by way of recommendations and findings from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The forum participants then discussed their experiences with the Blue Card, concentrating on issues participants felt were the most pertinent to the review in terms of potential change to strengthen or streamline the system and build public confidence in the Blue Card system.

With all States / Territories having their own

Sportswatch - Summer 2017

Working with Children Checks (WWCCs) such as Blue Card in Queensland, it was no great surprise that given sport is played across borders in this country, forum participants supported the thrust of Royal Commission recommendations on a nationally consistent standardised model for WWCCs. It was also no great surprise to hear participants question recommended continuation of volunteer parent exemption in the sporting context, an issue that has been raised over the years the Blue Card system has been in existence.

Participants were very interested in how other jurisdictions have tackled WWCCs, notably New South Wales, and expressed a desire to see changes here that remove some of the delays in processing approvals / renewals of applications and provide a system that enhances public confidence that children’s involvement in sport is in as safe as possible an environment.

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Annual General Meetings set for 29 March What’s better than attending one AGM if you’re a Queensland State sporting administrator?

Well, try three if you’re the nominated delegate to QSport, the Queensland Olympic Council and the Australian Commonwealth Games Association (Queensland) and interested to hear how those three bodies fared in 2016 and what’s ahead in 2017.

Proving that coordination is not lost on the organisers of their annual meeting schedules, their upcoming meetings will be conducted one after the other on Wednesday, 29 March at Sports House, Milton, Brisbane from 12noon through to 2-2:30pm.

Recent AGM’s have been held at night but organisers have opted for a lunchtime gathering this time around and with Olympic Council and Commonwealth Games Association members also members of QSport, the move continues all three organisations’ endeavours to optimise attendance at these annual gatherings.

As this edition of Sportswatch went to print, the “batting order” for the three meetings was QSport from 12 noon, followed by the ACGA and then the QOC, with formal notices, agendas etc to be forwarded to each individual member in line with constitutional requirements.

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Sportswatch - Summer 2017

More help for kids to Get Started in sport Treasurer and now former Minister for Sport Curtis Pitt has made an extra $750,000 available to help up to 5,000 Queensland children kickstart their involvement in organised sport or recreational activities through Round 9 of the popular Get Started vouchers program.

Mr Pitt said at the end of January that high demand for the $150 vouchers in the current Round 9 of the Get Started program had led him to boost funding.

“The vouchers flew out the door when the current round of online applications opened, exhausting almost all of the original allocation of $4.2 million in the current round,” Mr Pitt said.

“I want to see as many young Queenslanders as possible taking the opportunity to be involved in sport which is why I have increased the budget for this current round. “With extra funds now available in Round 9, we will be able to help as many as 5,000 more children to get involved in their favourite sport or recreation activity.”

Sportswatch - Summer 2017

Mr Pitt said the Get Started vouchers program helped Queensland children whose families may not otherwise be able to afford the cost of joining a sport or recreational club.

“The vouchers provide up to $150 to help eligible children cover the cost of membership or participation fees at a local club,” he said. “Overall more than 150,000 vouchers have been issued to Queensland families since the very first round of the program.”

Mr Pitt said more than 4,100 clubs across Queensland were registered for the Get Started vouchers program, ensuring a huge range of activities on offer. The Get Started vouchers scheme is one of four funding programs that make up the Get in the Game program which has provided more than $100 million in investment from the Palaszczuk Government to support grassroots sport and recreation.

For more information on how to apply for Get Started Vouchers, visit www.npsr.qld.gov.au/ getinthegame

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Women to the fore at Sport Awards Presentation The world record holder for the fastest ever 100m freestyle swim by a female in Cate Campbell is The Courier-Mail Channel 7 Queensland Sport Star of the Year Award winner for 2016, announced at the 22nd Annual Queensland Sport Awards / Hall of Fame Presentation in Brisbane on 8 December.

A 700 strong black tie audience at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre heard the announcement of Campbell’s win at the end of a night which saw 11 Awards presented for Queensland’s top on and off field sporting performances in the period October, 2015 to September, 2016 and three further Service to Sport Awards presented for outstanding service.

Campbell was accompanied at the Awards Presentation by Rio Olympic Australian swim teammates sister Bronte and Emma McKeon who along with Brittany Elmslie teamed up in an all Queensland line-up in the final of the Rio Olympic women’s 100m freestyle relay to win gold in a new world record that won them the XXXX Queensland Sport Team of the Year Award for 2016, Campbell swimming the final leg and after the missing a podium finish in the individual 100m freestyle final, backed up in the final leg for the Australian women’s 4x100m medley relay team, coming from behind to win silver.

Campbell broke the world record for the 100m at the Brisbane Grand Prix in July in a time of 52.06, which broke German Britta Steffen’s record set in 2009 during the “super suit “era, and broke the world short course record for the 100m in 16

November last year, becoming the first woman to swim under 51seconds.

In winning the award, Campbell saw off a line-up of nine other contenders that included teammate and fellow Rio gold medal winning swimmer Emma McKeon, Rio gold medal winning rugby seven’s Charlotte Caslick, NRL joint Dally M medal winner in Queensland and Australian rugby league halfback Cooper Cronk, world number one ranked golfer Jason Day, Firebirds’ Australian netball defenders Laura Geitz and Clare McMenamin, Rio Hockeyroos captain Madonna Blyth and Rio Paralympian gold medal winners in para-canoeist Curtis McGrath and swimmer Lakeisha Patterson.

Caboolture teenager Patterson won the McDonalds Queensland Athlete with a Disability Award for her six medal winning haul in the pool in Rio while McGrath, winner of that award last year, won the Queensland Academy of Sport’s Peter Lacey Award for Sporting Excellence, named after the Queensland surf lifesaving great and presented for the first time as part of the Queensland Sport Awards Presentation.

Young Far North Queensland world champion sailor Kristen Wadley won The Courier-Mail Channel 7 Queensland Junior Sport Star of the Year Award and the Queensland Government sponsored Junior Sport Team of the Year was awarded to the State’s national championship winning Under 18 Boys’ Table Tennis team.

Swimming coach Michael Bohl won the Sportswatch - Summer 2017

Queensland Sport Coach of the Year Award, also sponsored by the Queensland Government, while netball took away winners in three categories with the BCEC Queensland Sport Event of the Year in the double extra time ANZ Trans-Tasman Netball Championship final at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre won by the Queensland Firebirds, the Brisbane City Council Queensland Sport Volunteer of the Year going to Downey Park and Valleys netball stalwart Elizabeth White and the Queensland Sport Administrator of the Year sponsored by Arthur J Gallagher in Netball Queensland CEO Catherine Clark.

Hockey’s international Rio Olympic referee Adam Kearns won the Konica Minolta sponsored Queensland Sport Officiator of the Year Award while early in the night, longstanding servants of para-sport, basketball and hockey in Ray Epstein, Ken Madsen and Faye Wastell respectively were awarded Coca Cola Amatil sponsored Queensland Service to Sport Awards. .

new inductees in AFL’s Simon Black, rugby league’s John McDonald, swimming’s Stephanie Rice and triathlon’s Emma Snowsill, as was former Queensland and Australian rugby union centre Tim Horan who was elevated to Legend status as the 16th Legend of Queensland Sport.

The Queensland Sport Awards are conducted each year by QSport as the industry peak body of sport in Queensland which also coordinates the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame.

QSport’s principal financial supporter is the Queensland Government while Channel 7 and The Courier-Mail also are major sponsors of the Awards and the Hall of Fame.

The date for this year’s Awards/Hall of Fame Presentation is to be confirmed at the QSport Board meeting on 24 February.

The Queensland Sport Hall of Fame welcomed

Sportswatch - Summer 2017

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Gold Coast Commonwealth Games a step towards a local Australian Olympics?

At the time of drafting this item, the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games were exactly 14 months to the day away from commencing with an opening ceremony at Metricon Stadium that will see the eyes of the country and much of the world focussed on the Gold Coast, Queensland and Australia.

By that time, Queenslanders and Australians in significant numbers will be filled with a sense of expectation, indeed excitement, about the week and a half ahead, with the usual questions to follow about success of the event, Australian on field performance and legacy.

At the same time, politicians, bureaucrats and other significant players will be further down the track on what it all does for the notion of a Summer Olympic Games in this part of the world in a further 12 or 16 years or even longer.

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No doubt conversations will have gone on about that notion, indeed are going on now here and there, with how to stage such an event of events in this neck of the woods without adding unduly to the local, State and / or national debt.

With the Council of South East Queensland Mayors investigating the feasibility of staging such an event here and all three levels of government currently and into the foreseeable future fiscally challenged, including at the time a bid would have to go forward, it will be an interesting debate.

A recent mention in The Courier-Mail indicating that a panel of academics and business consultants, in a report submitted to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, think the cost of the 2020 Olympics could exceed $A39 billion, won’t be lost on those looking at a Summer Olympics in this part of the world.

Sportswatch - Summer 2017

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Sportswatch - Summer 2017

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Sportswatch - Summer 2017

Awards MC’s Pat Welsh & Victoria Carthew kept the night running smoothly.

Robert Craddock interviewed Tim Horan who was installed as the 16th Legend of Queensland Sport.

Hall of Fame Inductees (from left to right) Simon Black (AFL); John McDonald (rugby league); Stephanie Rice (swimming) and Emma Snowsill (triathlon)

Rachel Martin accepted the QAS Peter Lacey Award for Sporting Excellence on behalf of her partner Curtis McGrath from Bennett King (left) and Bruno Cullen.

Service to Sport Award Winners (from left to right) Ray Epstein (para sport); Ken Madsen (basketball); Faye Wastell (hockey).

Sportswatch - Summer 2017

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Sportswatch - Summer 2017

Sponsor Recognition Awards were presented to (from top left) Michelle Golley & Rod Chiapello (McDonald’s); John Mullins (Mullins Lawyers); Cr Krista Adams (Brisbane City Council); Donnita Maher (Rydges South Bank); Bob O’Keeffe (Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre). Waterford also received a Sponsor’s Award, but were absent on the night.

The Courier-Mail Channel 7 Junior Sport Star of the Year went to sailor Kristen Wadley whose mother Annette accepted the award from Karl de Kroo (The Courier-Mail) & Todd Dickensen (Channel 7) Sportswatch - Summer 2017

The Courier-Mail Channel 7 Sport Star of the Year winner was Olympic swimmer Cate Campbell.

The award was presented by News’s Queensland’s Karl deKroo & Channel 7’s Todd Dickensen.

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Elizabeth White (left) from Netball received the Brisbane City Council Queensland Sport Volunteer of the Year Award from Cr Krista Adams.

Catherine Clark (left) from Netball Queensland accepted the Administrator of the Year Award from Arthur J Gallagher’s Christine Osborne.

Three of the four (Emma McKeon, Cate Campbell & Bronte Campbell) members from the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay Olympic Team were on hand to accept their award for XXXX Sport Team of the Year from Lion’s David Bruhn. Brittany Elmslie (absent)

The Queensland U18 Boys Table Tennis Team was the winner of the Queensland Government sponsored Junior Sport Team of the Year Award. Di Farmer, Member for Bulimba representing Minister for Sport Curtis Pitt presented the trophy to Coach Gavin Duffy.

Swimmer Lakeisha Patterson capped off a stellar year, with 6 medals at the Rio Paralympics. Her training partner and Paralympic swimmer Brenden Hall accepted the award on her behalf for Athlete with a Disability from McDonald’s representatives Michelle Golley and Rod Chiapello.

The Queensland Government sponsored Coach of the Year Award went to Swimming’s Michael Bohl and was presented by the Member for Bulimba Di Farmer.

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Sportswatch - Summer 2017

Teneille Kelloway from Netball Queensland, accepted the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre Queensland Sport Event of the Year award for the Trans-Tasman Netball Final. The award was presented by Shaun Mitchell, Director of Sales at BCEC.

Konica Minolta’s Scott Jackson (right) presented the trophy to Adam Kearns from Hockey, winner of the Sport OďŹƒciator of the Year Award.

QSport Volunteers (from left to right) Standing: Natalie Rapisarda, Kara Daymon, Kylie Thomson (QSport Operations Manager), Jesikah Ings, Gabi McGill, Sitting: Sammy Cox, Peter Cummiskey (QSport CEO), Robyn White Sportswatch - Summer 2017

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Sportswatch - Summer 2017

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