PLAY Canberra Issue 23 May 2013

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brumbieS The second coming

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catch her if You canlauren boden readY to tackle the worldS in moScow

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#23

contentS4. SPortenarY - event calendar5. SPortenarY - club of the month6. Government - new city stadium7. afl - gws poor crowd issues addressed8. raiderS -croker’s centenary9. canberra raiderS cuP - april wrap10. neafl - big names Join the hundred club 12. feature - Lauren boden Tackles the worlds14. brumbieS - The second-coming of Laurie fisher 15. john i dent cuP - april wrap16. Social - ais open day17. actewaGl - may calendar of events18. PhYSical activitY foundation20. cavalrY - accolades keep coming 21. communitY - 100 community heroes23. baSketball - gunners 25 years old26. Social - college hoops & Turf bowling29. triathlon - new club challenging big guns 30. croSSword - pLay’s sports crossword

contributinG writerS & collaboratorS: antony perry brett mckay shaun ebert adam phelan brendan parnell russ gibbs

contactediToriaL nathan minerds - [email protected] 0452 220 100adVerTising ad guys - [email protected] 0452 220 100

diSclaimerpLay canberra is a monthly magazine distributed to over 500 locations in canberra on the first Thursday of the month. The opinions, view and comments expressed in pLay do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or publisher. pLay canberra is not responsible for the information submitted in the ads by the advertisers.

webpLaycanberra.com.au

Josh matic Todd davey Joshua mercer Lyndall parker chris cairns Jessica munoz

cover: lauren boden. image: nudgepix Photography.

Canberrans turn out to Celebrate the CentenaryMore than three in four Canberrans have attended at least one Centenary event to date and most (79 per cent) were satisfied with the experience, according to a survey for the ACT Government.

“with the first quarter of the centenary of canberra year now behind us, it is gratifying to know that so many people have already engaged with the celebrations,” the chief minister said.

“drawing these numbers out, it equates to some 270,000 locals participating in the centenary in the first 12 weeks – as well as many others from interstate.

“while the big birthday celebration around the lake on monday 11 march was huge, attended by about 150,000 locals and visitors, many other events have also attracted big numbers.

“highlights like the day-night cricket international at manuka oval, the handa women’s australian open golf at royal canberra, The secret river at the canberra Theatre centre and the parties at the shops were all big crowd-pullers,” the chief minister said.

PhotoGraPherS: andrew finch: www.edgelightphotography.com.au ben southall: www.bensouthall.com.au michael phelan: b&m photography nudgepix photography: www.nudgepix.com.au

“highlights like the day-night cricket international at manuka oval, the handa women’s australian open golf at royal canberra,

the Secret river at the canberra theatre centre and the Parties at the Shops were all big crowd-pullers.”

-chief minister katy Gallagher

Issue #23 MAY 2013plAYcAnberrA.coM.Au4 issue #21 march 2013pLaycanberra.com.au4

100 SPORTING EVENTS, 100 DAYS, 1 CENTENARY YEAR

SPORTENARYEvent Name YOu CAN buShwAlk IN GuNGAhlIN?

Organisation CANbERRA buShwAlkING Club

Date Sunday 5 May 2013

Time 9am to 11am

location Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve

Event Details www.canberra100.com.au/sportenary

Event Name SNOwSPORTS ACT SkI & SNOwbOARD SAlE & ExPO

Organisation SnowSports ACT

Date Saturday 11 May 2013

Time 8.30am to 1.30pm

location Old bus Depot. 21 wentworth Avenue, kingston


Event Name TRY ORIENTEERING wITh MAP MATES

Organisation ORIENTEERING ACT


Time 10.30am to 12pm

location weston Park, Yarralumla


Event Name YMCA RuNNERS Club MINI JOG & FuN RuN

Organisation YMCA Runners Club


Time 2.30pm to 5pm

location lennox Gardens. Flynn Dr, Yarralumla


Event Name kick up Your heels: bobby Soxers v Rockabillys

Organisation Canberra City band


Time 8pm to Midnight

location Albert hall


Event Name TRY DRAGON bOATING wITh kOMODO

Organisation komodo Paddle Club


Time 9am to 10.30am

location Canberra Yacht Club. Mariner Pl, Yarralumla


try Dragon boating with KomoDo The recently crowned 2013 acT dragon boat champions - komodo paddle club - are holding a “come and try” dragon boating morning. There are few better ways to spend a canberra morning than out on the iconic Lake burley griffin, so why not take the opportunity to do it in a dragon boat.

trY draGon boatinG with komodo

when: Sunday 26 may 2013. time: 9am – 10.30am

where: canberra Yacht club. mariner Pl, Yarralumla

Event Name wOMEN IN SuPER MOThER'S DAY ClASSIC

Organisation breast cancer research


Time 7.30am to 12pm

location Rond Terrace, Parks way


Over 50 weeks of the Centenary year, there will be 100 community events showcasing a diversity of sport and recreation activities, facilities and local attractions throughout the ACT that get Canberrans off the bench and participating in Sportenary! Further information can be found at www.canberra100.com.au/sportenary

fresh from an impressive nationals campaign which saw the komodo paddle club bring home 3 silver medals and qualify for the club world championships in italy in 2014, komodo are now looking to the off season and want to grow their family of paddlers.

from small beginnings at a meeting of just 18 members in 2010, komodo has grown to a canberra dragon boat club of 80 members in two short seasons. komodo prides itself on maintaining the perfect balance between competition and fun

so, have you ever wanted to try your hand at the fastest growing sport in the world?

want the opportunity to try a fun, social sport which can even allow you to travel abroad?

Then come along to the canberra yacht club and try dragon boating!

whether you are interested in competing locally, internationally or simply keeping fit and having fun, then komodo could become your dragon boat home.

playcanberra.com.au 5Issue #23 MAY 2013 pLaycanberra.com.au 5issue #21 march 2013

season launCh with a Centenary flavour The winner of the april centenary club of the month pulled out all the stops to add a centenary flavour to an already special day on the clubs calendar.

The Tuggeranong united football club held their annual adam fry memorial season Launch on saturday 13 april with a special centenary flavour at kambah 2 playing fields.

The adam fry memorial season Launch remembers adam fry, friend and team mate of many at Tuggeranong united, who was tragically lost in 2003 as a result of his epilepsy. adam was just 20 years old and a popular member of the clubs social football program. This years launch marked 10 years since his passing. adam’s family are guests of honour each year. in memory of adam, and to help those suffering from the same condition, the money raised at the launch is donated to epilepsy acT. This year Tuggernong united were aiming to break the

fundraising record and make a donation of $2500 to the cause.

The day included a round robin tournament featuring all the club’s men’s social teams, followed by an introduction of the premier League squads. This is followed by a formal launch of the season and the main event - Tuggeranong united taking on reigning premiers cooma Tigers in their national premier League fixture.

all eyes were on the main game at 3pm when Tuggeranong united fought out a 2-2 draw with the 2012 premiers.

The club couldn’t have been happier with the way the launch turned out, heralding the day as an all round success.

::centenarY club of the month::

tuGGeranonG united football club

‘centenary club of the month’ will be awarded to the sporting team, club or organisation who celebrates the centenary of canberra throughout their own networks in a fun and creative way. there will be one winner each month (february to november), with the winners having the opportunity to win the centenary club of the Year.

SimPle StePS to be in the runninG:1. Think up a creative way to celebrate the centenary - canberra’s birthday with your team, club or sporting organisation. such as: •Themeamatchdaywitheverythingyellow!Yellowaccessories - socks, shoe laces, hats, sweat bands, ribbons, sleeves, make yellow banners, yellow snacks and create centenary chants •Maybeincorporateaclubfundraiserwithapercentagegoingtothe centenary’s official fundraising partner - dollarsfordili.com.au •Centenarythemedbake-offforsupportersattendingjuniorsport(or young at heart sport participants) •2013Tally–100points,wickets,goals,clubwins,orgames.Makeita target across the year, tracking it along the way

2. Then - ‘Like’ our event page facebook.com/centenaryofcanberra and visit our event ‘centenary club of the month’3. at your celebration take lots of photos! The more photos the better and be creative.4. simply get a club member, coach or volunteer to upload your five best photos and videos to the event page facebook.com/centenaryofcanberra and tell us in a few sentences why you should win centenary club of the month. please also share on Twitter twitter.com/centenaryofcanb and include #canberra100

what do You win?The ten ‘centenary club of the month’ winners will each receive a grant of $500 to assist with the purchase of sporting equipment. plus an exclusive article in pLay magazine.Thenine‘CentenaryCluboftheMonth’winners(Feb-Oct)willthengointothe final to take home the ‘centenary club of the year’ where there is over $2000 in sportsman’s warehouse vouchers up for grabs.’

“The season Launch was a great success, with all of our 280 men’s players of all levels in action. we were able to raise $2500 for epilepsy acT thanks to the participation of all our members” club assistant secretary anthony corder told pLay magazine.

congratulations must go to under 18 division-1 team, who took out the prestigious adam fry memorial shield with some impressive performances against some much more experienced state League opposition.

The club has committed to continue celebrating the centenary throughout the whole year in a fantastic display of civic pride.

“This year our national premier League teams are wearing yellow socks and the canberra 100 logo to celebrate our city’s birthday” anthony explained.

congratulations to a very deserving winner of the centenary club of the month.


new City staDium the jewel in City to the laKe plansfootball lovers of canberra and surrounds were burning their heavy jackets in the streets, when a new 30,000-seat covered rectangular stadium was included as a major feature in the acT government’s ambitious city to the Lake project recently. by brett mckay @bmcsport

Long-suffering footy fans literally warmed to the thought of not needing fourteen layers to attend raiders and brumbies games in the middle of winter. players relaxed knowing the threat of playing in snow would be no more.

except that as a good a piece of news as the new cbd stadium idea was, the sobering reality is that any new stadium with a logical roof is still at the end of the decade away, and maybe longer. Those heavy jackets are still going to be needed for a little while yet.

deputy chief minister, and minister for sport and recreation, andrew barr, laid out the reality of this massive infrastructure project within the Territory for pLay canberra.

“The timing of the [city stadium] construction is most impacted by the other stages of the development [in the broader city to the Lake plan], in that you can’t build a new stadium on what is currently a swimming pool site, until that pool is relocated.”

when put like this, you get a sense of just how big and how grand a plan city to the Lake is for canberra, and why current projections and estimates have the major

infrastructure development looking at a 15-25 year timeframe for completion. and that’s at this very early stage in proceedings.

The city stadium would indeed be a major development in its own right, and when grouped with convention facilities, hotels, bar and restaurant precincts as it currently is within the plan, it sounds like a logical first step. except that a few things needs to happen first. big things, too.

if you haven’t already checked out the plan’s website (http://www.citytolake.com.au/),it’sworthdoingsoif for no other reason than watching the impressive flyover and fly-through video clip.

assuming all funding is found, and approvals gained, the major current impediments to the new city stadium include parkes way, which would be moved and lowered to a subterranean level, with access streets at the current surface level, and the canberra olympic pool which would be moved over the proposed west basin aquatic area, which would also house the already well-discussed ‘urban beach’ on Lake burley griffin (whichMinisterBarradmitshasalreadydrawncomment over water quality!).

any new stadium development has to be feasible, and revenue-earning, and that means more than just every weekend during football season. underground commercial car-parking, retail and office space on the outer flanks of the arena, and even stadium concepts that incorporate the ability to convert stands into concert and convention halls, and even corporate boxes into hotel rooms, are some of the ideas on the table.

but what kind of stadium can we expect?

well, even at this very preliminary stage, it’s clear the vision includes a roof of some description. The clear-roofed forsyth-barr stadium in dunedin, in new Zealand, is an obvious model, and the new singapore national stadium project currently under construction is another that minister barr has visited recently for discussions.

whether the roof is retractable or fixed, spanning the entire stadium or just the seating areas may come down to cost, but mr barr openly admits his preference would be a full roof that might, maybe, just one day allow us to leave the beanies and scarves at home.

“unless it’s going to dramatically change the cost to the point that cost-benefit just would not stack up ... it’s my very, very strong preference that that be the case.”

what’s also clear, talking to the minister, is that the city stadium project is something that he’s as excited about himself as anyone who’s spent a cool night under the layers on the canberra stadium concourse. The passion with which he speaks of the project is exactly would you hope for from your sports minister.

Though, given he’s also the Treasurer, minister barr might be having some interesting discussions with himself between now and 2020, which he also believes is the timeframe: “i’d like to be able to get this done this decade,” he says.

and football fans across the region and beyond would like that too, minister. pLay looks forward to chatting regularly and bringing further updates on this ambitious, but exciting project.

The new Parkes Way creates sites for prestigious high-amenity residential addresses, hotels and retail to attract more visitors to the City, encourage them to stay longer and to serve the increased local population when supported by demand.

Judicious placement of higher buildings can reinforce the avenue structures and enhance park frontages. They provide greater density in locations of high amenity in order to share the great attributes of the City.

One: Grand new address to Commonwealth park with possible locations of higher building elements

Two: High amenity demands high quality built form

Three: Easy access to Commonwealth Park

Four: Generous high quality landscape to park edge

Five: High amenity residential environments overlooking the park

Six: Varied heights define the urban park edge

Seven: Higher buildings with shared park amenity 1

4 72 53 6


gws’ DwinDling CrowD numbers not a giant problem why the giants’ meagre crowd against the gold coast is not cause for concern. by Todd davey @ToddJdavey

since the giants’ bold foray into the hearts and minds of the football fans of the nsw/acT region, canberrans have been told that the nation’s capital is pivotal to the success of the franchise.

This was further underlined with a 10 year commitment to play home and away games at manuka oval, but after a modest 6832 crowd at canberra’s premier boutique stadium, serious questions have been asked as to whether the sometimes fickle canberra sports fan has actually gotten behind the giants.

it is hardly unexpected that the public did not turn out in their droves with the arguably the two worst teams currently in the afL squaring off.

The cold, hard facts were not lost on gws chief executive david matthews, who believes the position of both teams played a significant role in the lower than expected turnout.

image: geTTy

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“(weplayed)asidethat’sonlyacoupleofyearsold,they’re not going to bring many [fans] and our form hasn’t been great.”

These were sentiments echoed by afL 360’s gerard whateley, who believes the teams playing contributed to the poor crowd numbers rather than a general apathetic attitude from the acT footballing public.

“it’s not to say people aren’t going, but this is obviously a bad fixture for canberra.”

“no more giants suns there.”

what is inescapable is the fact that this is manuka oval’s lowest attendance ever for an afL fixture since north melbourne and the western bulldogs only managed to draw 7222 to the venue back in 2004. despite all of this, it is easy to see why the giants are not panicking over canberra’s crowd drawing power.

back in round 3 the giants posted their highest ever attendance at the venue in their match with st.kilda, with 11,092 fans packing the stands.

in a rugby league dominated city, gws unbelievably outdrew the canberra raiders by over 1300 fans.

The enormity of the feat was not lost on giants’ ruckman dean brogan, who said “it’s a massive win for afL … for us to go down to canberra and pull a bigger crowd than the raiders is a big tick for us.’’

not to be outdone, gws’ “home away from home” actually drew more fans on average than the giants actual home ground, skoda stadium in sydney last year.

on average manuka drew over 300 more people to the acT, despite playing three bottom four sides, which included the second, fifth and seventh worst drawing teams in terms of crowd numbers in 2012.

conversely, skoda stadium hosted games from three of the top five highest drawing teams, essendon, richmond and collingwood, yet still failed to surpass their acT rivals.

gws coach kevin sheedy said this is proof that the alliance between the gaints and canberra is paying dividends stating that the record crowd number is an “important step” in the right direction for afL football in the nation’s capital.

Taken from an open letter that sheedy wrote to the afL fans of canberra, the master-coach stated that “we’re here to stay. we know we have to work hard to earn the respect and trust of canberra over the next decade and we intend to do just that.”

The respect that sheedy wrote about comes from a true dedication to developing the game in the acT, as well as making sure the fans are not short-changed when it comes to the quality of opponents they see at manuka oval.

canberra fans showed when they have an establishedandwell-supportedAFLclub(St.Kilda)play games in the city that the crowds will come.

The acT has proven it has the capacity to outdraw our sydney counterparts, and while canberrans cannot be as naïve to think the bombers or the magpies could be on their way to manuka for premiership points any time soon, the fact remains; footy in canberra is here to stay.


The nephew of raiders legend Jason ‘Toots’ croker has come a long way since “that kick” in a home semi-final against the wests Tigers in 2010, and has reached the milestone of 100 nrL matches.

amazingly, he became the fastest raider ever to reach that milestone, missing just a possible four games since making his debut in 2009.

he also became the second youngest to the milestone, after his uncle Jason.

while very proud to have represented the club a century of times, croker was not letting personal milestones get in front of team performance.

“it’s good mate; something i’m pretty proud of. i’m just glad we went out there sunday night with a win,” he said after the raiders’ round five win over the sydney roosters.

“a good little milestone i guess, but like i said it’s good to get the win.”

before his century, croker had leap-frogged legendary fullback gary belcher into fourth on the raiders’ all time points scoring list.

his 578 points at that time had him sitting behind coach david furner, former fullback clinton schifcofske and club legend mal meninga, and featured 201 goals and 44 tries.

but there is no doubting his ultimate growth came last year.

in his debut season he did not have a single shot at goal. croker took over the kicking duties from injured five-eighth Terry campese in 2010 after campese injured his calf muscle. croker had not assumed goal kicking duties since his junior representative days in theHaroldMatthews(U16’s)andSGBall(U18’s)squads.

his 53 goals that season was a sign of bigger things to come though.

in 2012 he amassed 226 points, earning him a dally m medal for points-scoring, and he booted 81 goals while scoring an equal-best 16 tries for the raiders.

“i was pretty lucky to be on the back of a pretty good backline. it’s nice to get those little accolades, but i would have given it all back to play in that final against

souths [which he was injured for last year],” said croker.

“i remember kicking - it just sort of fell in to my hands.”

“There was a handful of us [potential goal kickers]. i never really thought i’d be a first pick goal kicker.”

“it’s obviously nice.”

croker said he still gets nervous before every attempt at goal, but said that was part and parcel of his job.

he credited canterbury bulldogs and new Zealand kiwis legend daryl halligan, who has been visiting the raiders for the last few years, for his goal kicking skills.

but he credited his team’s solid performances last season for his own success.

“i’m about the team, and when the team’s going well, that makes my job easier,” he said.

croker recently resigned with the green machine until the end of the 2015 season. he said he loves the club, and sees no reason to go anywhere else.

“i’m only 22, but i’m happy where i am, happy at the club, and hopefully the club’s happy with me, so at the moment i love being here and love my place,” he said.

croker still recognises the importance of his family’s involvement in his career.

he said that his dad has been the biggest inspiration in his career, and ensures he visits them in his home town of goulburn.

“There’s been a lot [of inspirations]. obviously my dad, he coached me all throughout my juniors and taught me everything i know,” said croker.

“i get home to see mum and dad and all the family. They do so much for me. There was about 70 of them over here on sunday night [for his 100th game].”

the aPril wraPThe raiders have shown mixed form again since their round three win over the dragons.

They managed back-to-back wins for the first time this season in rounds five and six- beating the in-form sydney roosters and squeezing past the new Zealand warriors in consecutive home fixtures.

but losses to the newcastle knights in round four and a round seven thumping by the north Queensland cowboys have soured that effort.

The raiders were boosted by the highly anticipated return of club captain Terry campese off the bench in the win against the warriors, a come-from-behind effort in which his kicking game was instrumental.

coach david furner has also been experimenting switching half Josh mccrone to hooker, which has so far worked a treat.

however, it is now up to the squad to improve their consistency between home and away fixtures, as they have won all at home, but lost all away.

image: geTTy

a Centenary of his owncanberra raiders star centre and goal kicker Jarrod croker could never have dreamed of goal kicking for the raiders until three years ago, but ever since, has been one of the true success stories at the club. by Joshua matic @maticJm


the Canberra raiDers Cup april wrap The opening rounds of the 2013 canberra raiders cup have been full of surprises, with results so far reaffirming the competitiveness of the competition. by Joshua matic @maticJm

The belconnen united scholars and the Queanbeyan kangaroos have dominated the competition in recent years, but consecutive wins to the Tuggeranong bushrangers and consecutive losses to the scholars have surely left many scratching their heads.

The bushrangers managed a grand total of just two wins in 2012, in what was their worst ever season in the canberra raiders cup.

on the complete flip side, the scholars managed just two losses in 2012, in what was a premiership effort.

along with pre-season competition favourites the Queanbeyan blues, the bushrangers sit on top of the ladder, with a superior for-and-against giving it that honour.

and what a start to the season it has been for them.

They smashed the west belconnen warriors 52-4 at west belconnen in round one, before returning home

to greenway and sending the woden Valley rams packing 36-16.

The bushrangers have been boosted by the return of michael brophy, who played for the club for 18 years before a one year stint at the burleigh bears in the Queensland cup last year.

The experienced fullback has showed fine form so far, scoring a try and assisting others in the round one demolition, while his experience in the Queensland cup has rubbed off on teammates.

The bushrangers’ young halves pairing of carl Johnson and ryan gowing have developed well since brophy’s return, and the team will go a long way in their current form.

it has been a couple of seasons now since the Queanbeyan blues were able to challenge cross-town rivals the kangaroos, but have made the perfect start in order to do so.

The 2011 runners up to that rivalry, former raiders half marc herbert has starred in the first two rounds so far, with fellow former raider Trevor Thurling also making in-roads through his opponents.

coach simon woolford has been left very impressed, and there is no reason so far why his men cannot go all the way again this year.

The competition started with a grand final rematch between the scholars and kangaroos, with the kangaroos winning 30-22 at northbourne oval to signal their intentions of going one better in 2013.

but star skipper aaron gorrell missed the first two rounds to injury, and his men tasted just their third loss in two seasons in round two when they were beaten 31-24 by the gungahlin bulls.

west belconnen is the only other win-less team of the competition so far, having not shown signs of improvement from their wooden spoon of 2012.

as always in the canberra raiders cup, the middle of the competition remains tight, with the goulburn-workers bulldogs, kangaroos, bulls, and rams having one win a piece.

but with the competition having just 14 rounds this season, it will be important for each of these sides to start leap-frogging the pack.

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neafl stars join the 100 Club Three stars of the neafL have celebrated their 100 game milestones in the 2013 season, so we thought it was only fair to take a look back at the past 99 games for ainslie’s nick paine and marcus crook, as well as the magpie’s James bennett in celebration of a significant football milestone.

nick paine played 62 games of junior football for ainslie, starting his career in the under-thirteen side. he graduated to the seniors after a decorated junior career, picking up multiple club and league best and fairest awards, as well as being all australian in the 2003 secondary school carnival.

after making his debut for the seniors when he was only meant to be playing under 16s, he rose through the ranks of the under eighteens and eventually played two first grade games at the age of fifteen.

he played 46 games for ainslie before moving to western australia to play for south fremantle in the wafL in 2008. he returned to ainslie to play for their neafL side in their 2010 premiership side.

That same year he was ainslie’s leading goalkicker and made the afL canberra/neafL all stars team.

averaging just over two goals per game, paine has been one of the most consistent performers in the neafL in recent memory, his ability to kick long and accurately a hallmark of his play.

marcus crook (pictured) joined his former VfL team-mates John holmes and eric stone in switching from box hill to ainslie in 2008.

six seasons, 100 games and two premierships later, crook has stamped himself as one of the neafL’s most dominant and talented midfielders.

he won the alex Jesaulenko medal for best on ground in the 2011 neafL grand final, and was all-australian at the australian country championships in 2010.

a mainstay for the afL canberra/neafL eastern conference Team of the year, he has made an appearance every year since 2009, as well as nabbing mark of the year in 2012.

The ainslie football club has been incredibly grateful to these two players for their consistent and quality effort over their time as players.

belconnen’s James bennett has family history with the magpies, with both his father david and brother Lexie notching up 100 games as well.

starting out as a junior, the star midfielder saw great success during the magpie’s dominant era in the early 2000’s, winning a premiership in 2004.

after winning the club best and fairest in 2006, he had a quieter 2007 before nabbing another club best and fairest before winning a premiership with the magpies in 2009.

following success with the magpies bennett made a move to south australia and played in the sanfL for north adelaide, picking up another club best and fairest and being named in the sanfL Team of the year.

now 25 and an assistant coach for the neafL side, he is still a dominant force for the magpies, racking up big numbers week in, week out.

congratulations to all players on reaching 100 games for their respective clubs.

following success with the magpies bennett made a move to South australia and played in the Sanfl for north adelaide, picking

up another club best and fairest and being named in the Sanfl

team of the Year.


uws giants test the neafl big guns consistency will be key for the uws giants in the upcoming weeks of the neafL, after they have burst out of the gate in their third season of competition.

while a 2-2 start for any team isn’t exactly cause for celebration, the giants have shown near unprecedented competitiveness in the first five rounds, scoring upset wins over neafL mainstays ainslie and belconnen.

They have only lost to vastly more experienced sides in the Lions and swans reserves, and came within a goal of scoring a huge upset against the latter in round two.

after two seasons of only just being on the right side of competitive, the giants seem to have finally hit their stride.

a major positive from the start of their 2012 season is the depth they’ve shown in their forward line.

while they’ve had proven afL performers such as Setanta o’hailpin (Pictured right) and bret Thornton come through and kick bags of goals, the consistent form of young forward adam Tomlinson would surely be a coach pleaser.

gerald ugle, shaun edwards and kristian Jaksch have all been improving round by round.

despite the upside, their backline will remain a key concern, having conceded more than 100 points in three out of their four games.

Top tier sides like Queanbeyan will take advantage of their undersized backline, but it is still important to note that these are young players under development.

number three draft pick Jonathon o’rourke is still finding his way through the backline, while a raft of high draft picks in nick haynes, matthew buntine and aiden corr are also among their ranks.

The giants don’t have the easiest draw in the neafL, as they are forced to play both the Lions, swans and suns reserves on multiple occasions, however their round 13 clash against the suns reserves will be a real mid-season watershed moment.

any team can start a season strongly, but the best teams can run out the whole year.

as it is in the afL, it should be a great contest between two sides in development, and whichever side is hungrier for wins mid-season will likely walk away victorious.

uws are yet to play finals footy in the neafL, and they’ll need to score more upset victories over sides like Queanbeyan if they are to have any chance of doing that.

hopefully for giants fans, we won’t be using the phrase ‘upset victory’ for many more seasons.

What a difference...

ZOO

480

97

Dickson 2 Badham St Woden Launceston St/Furzer Stthetradies.com.auFor the information of members and their invited guests.

There’s no better place to hang out and celebrate a win after a sporting event. Or to watch a sporting event. Or while avoiding watching a sporting event. There’s enough room for both! Actually, there’s probably no better place to hang out, regardless of what you have planned.

I wantsomewhere

I can unwindafter a big

game.

I knowa place.

image: geTTy


lauren boDen reaDy to taCKle the worlDsnews of locally-based athletes and teams conquering international competition is always great to take in, but there’s something about olympic 400m hurdler, Lauren boden, that makes you want to really get behind her as she heads overseas to prepare for the world athletics championships, in moscow, in august. by brett mckay @bmcsport

“i’m a local girl, very proud to be a canberran, and the community support here has been invaluable, really,” boden told pLay late last month, just before jetting off for a meet in Japan.

Very local, in fact. while so many of our athletes qualify for ‘canberran’ status via the ais, boden is quite literal in her explanations.

she started with the corroboree Little athletics club in dickson when she was just five, and says that back in the day, she had a go at everything on offer. she very happily jumped, threw, walked, and of course ran at every opportunity.

“i enjoyed it for the variety it gave me, and the social aspect as well. i had so much fun hanging out with my friends, and eating Zooper-doopers [those long, syrupy, ice-blocks in a tube that we all loved] up on the hill. i never really aspired to be an olympian,” boden says with a grin.

hurdles, boden says, “was something i was always exposed to, and it was just bit of fun,” noting that not all ‘Little as’ clubs offered it as

regularly as did corroboree when she was coming through.

at age 14, she was selected in the acT squad for the national Little athletics championships, and it was around the same time she linked up with coach, matt beckenham, who still guides her today.

(LaurenstillhasanaffiliationwiththeNationalLittleathletics championships, too, launching the 2013 event before it was run at the ais track last month.)

“That Little athletics championships that i went to ten years ago was the first acT team i’d ever made, and that opened my eyes to what elite competition can give you, and when i started with matt, i had done a bit more serious hurdling, and because i was tall, i was kind of drafted to the event naturally,” boden says.

“i was never going to be a shot-putter, because i can’t throw to save myself, so i guess [hurdles] chose me, and it was just reinforced when matt saw me doing a few hurdles, and i could handle the randomly spaced hurdles that he put out, and it was just a matter of trial and error in a way.”

“you don’t have a lot of exposure to 400m hurdles unless you just do them,” boden says, of the thought of adding the extra challenge of jumping over a 33-inch barrier while also running around a track as fast as possible.

“it’s either sprint hurdles, 200m hurdles, or then when you’re old enough, you can try 400m hurdles. i never really did much of the shorter sprints, and it was something that i guess i fell into, and happened to be good at.”

ignoring the irony of ‘falling into’ hurdles as a career, Lauren boden is indeed rather good at the 400m event. The national Title she won back in march was in fact her sixth, quite an achievement for someone who’s only 24.

as proud of the title as she obviously is, the fact that sherantwoB-Qualifyingtimes(intheheat,andinthe final) for the world championships is the major achievement, coming only seven months or so after a knee injury hampered her olympic debut in London last year.

it means that she can head overseas now without the burden or stress of still having to qualify for the worlds, and instead, she can build up to what is hoped will be the best shape of her life, as she strives now to run a personal best for the first time in three years.

The recovery from the knee injury was described as “an interesting process”.

“i haven’t had to spend this much time off the track with an injury. after London, i consulted with the doctors and the physios, and because i’d been carrying the knee injury for most of 2012 and through the olympics, really the only thing i could do was to stop running.

“so i had to spend nearly every day in the gym doing all sorts of rehab exercises, in the pool, on the bike, all sorts of things. so i was still training, and i was training really hard, i just wasn’t running. so it was kind of... it was an odd feeling, i suppose, because i was still doing hard sessions, but ten minutes later i’d be fine, where i’m used to dying on the grass here in the infield in a world of lactic pain for up to half an hour.”

“so it was an interesting process. but it was also about the first time in seven years i’d actually had time off. we decided to use it as a clean slate and refine everything, go back to basics, and use it as the first steps of what will hopefully be a great four or five year cycle to come.”

in terms of the build-up to the worlds, boden says she and beckenham have had good experiences with peaking for major events, and she’s quietly confident of being able to replicate her semi-final appearance at the 2011 championships. beyond that that can literally come down to what pans out over the days of the event. she’s expecting to have to run a similar low-56s time to what she ran in London, to make the semis in moscow this year.

“it’s hard, because they usually have three semi-finals, so you make the top 24, which is great, but it’s really

image: geTTy


the top eight that you want to be pushing for and it’s such a big gap.

“some of the top girls whose best times are in the 52s, they’ll run a 55 to cruise through to the semis, and then drop a 53 to make the final, and i don’t have that capability just yet.

as a guide, Jana pittman won her two 400m hurdles world championships with times of 53.22 seconds in 2003, and 53.31 in 2007. pittman’s 2003 time remains inside the top 25 fastest times in the history of the women’s event. russian natalya antyukh took gold in London last year with a time of 52.70. it further illustrates boden’s point about just how big a hurdle she has in front of her, to use an obvious pun.

“matt and i will have a guide through my races in europe [over the next few months, ahead of the worlds], and we’ll know what sort of shape i’m in, and for me it’s just about consistency. a lot of my international races haven’t been my best race of the year; all of my best races have been in australia. but we’re really trying to turn that around this year, and make all the best races in europe where the results really do count.

“if i can run well at the worlds, i can also get pre-selected for the commonwealth games next year [in glasgow], and that takes the pressure off for the [australian] domestic season to come.”

boden confirms that life as an international athlete isn’t at all glamorous, but she is also quick to admit that she does get excellent support from all number of sources, and that she doesn’t exactly have to live in a tent when she heads for the european seasons.

“yeah, it’s an interesting question. if you ask someone like sally pearson, she’s had a lot of success and she’s got her life sorted. for the other athletes, like myself, who are at that next level down and who aren’t the medallists, life is a bit harder,” boden says.

“i bought a house last year with my fiancé, and we’re planning a wedding later this year, so you’ve got a mortgage and normal things to think about. i’m in a great position because i can afford to do those things, but that’s been through years of saving, and living at home, and having a great support network around me.

“in terms of sponsors, i get all my footwear and clothing provided through nike, and my eyewear through oakley, but i’m not on contract with them, and there’s no obligation for them to support me, but they

do. it’s a case of getting your foot in the door [with potential sponsors], so that if you do well, you can go back to them and say, ‘hey, do you want to help me out some more?’

“matt and i have done that off our own backs; i don’t have a manager and we do all of our promo work ourselves.

“but i do work, i actually have three jobs. i do a bit of [junior] coaching; i have a group under ‘matty b’s fit

“we decided to use it as a clean slate and refine everything, go back to basics, and use it as the first steps of what will

hopefully be a great four or five year cycle to come.” - lauren boden

for fun’ program, of 6-10 year-olds who i train once a week. i work at the australian institute of sport, and i also do before- and after-school care. it’s all flexible work, which is great, but it does get hard if you go away for two months of the year and you don’t have that steady income.

“a lot of races won’t pay prize money, but they’ll cover your travel and one night’s accommodation. if you’re in a team though, it’s a bit different. athletics australia do fund your travel to and from europe, and then depending on what level of athlete there might be an allowance for accommodation costs, and so in that case, you don’t have too many expenses unless you want to go shopping or something like that.

“we are looked after really well, and i certainly can’t complain about that. but you tell people about all the

amazing places and countries you’ve been to, and they tell you all of these landmarks that you probably should’ve seen, but there’s just no time. you literally see a hotel, a track, a train station or an airport, and that’s it. it’s certainly not as glamorous as some people think,” boden concedes.

the iaaf world athletics championships will be held in moscow, russia, from the 10th to the 18th of august 2013.

walK safely to sChool Day Lauren boden is the 2013 acT walk safely to school day ambassador.

now in it’s 14th year, the national initiative, organised by the pedestrian council of australia, will be celebrated on friday 24 may.

The event aims to encourage all primary school-aged children to lead

a healthier, more active lifestyle by achieving at least 60 minutes of exercise a day to help prevent obesity and other health problems.

as well as working in after-school care, Lauren is a fit 4 fun coach, training her own little athletics squad. her passion for working with children makes her a natural choice as ambassador for walk safely to school day.

“a walk at the beginning and end of each day is an easy way to keep active. i used to walk to and from kaleen primary school everyday with my brother,” she says.

now walking is also a part of my training. i train six days a week, sometimes twice a day. most of my sessions involve running and hurdling, as well as some gym work. i usually try and walk around a lot during and after hard sessions, as it helps my legs to recover quicker.

“i think walk safely to school day is a great initiative for families to get involved in. being active first thing in the morning, such as walking to school, can really start the day off well!”

for the first time this year, the pedestrian council has introduced the free WalkSafelytoSchoolDayApp(forAppleandAndroidphones),whichcan track and measure your walk to and from school by recording the duration of your walk, the distance and average walking speed. download the app from www.walk.com.au.

“this year, we’re aiming to get as many canberra schools involved, all you have to do is register your school online at www.walk.com.au and start walking!” says lauren.


for all the talk of the club going “back to the future”, as Jake white likes to call it, much of the revival of the brumbies and the re-establishment of that hard-edged dominant breakdown game has been on the watch of a familiar figure in a familiar hat.

Laurie fisher, former academy coach, former forwards coach back in the glory days of the old super 12, and former head coach from 2005 through until the end of the 2008 season, returned to canberra to be part of Jake white’s new coaching team, following three seasons with irish powerhouse, munster.

fisher has finally traded in the old faded bucket hat for a newer one this season, but there’s plenty of hints to the old brumbies breakdown game in the 2013 version. sure, a lot of that has to do with the welcome return to canberra stadium of george smith, but the similarities between the old and new brumbies go well beyond the legendary no.7.

back in the glory days, the brumbies were known for piling numbers into the breakdown, and their set-piece proficiency. Those same traits are the cornerstones of the brumbies game again, and you need look no further than the win over the sharks in durban, the intense derby match against the reds in brisbane, and the demolition of the western force at home last month for the proof.

numbers into the breakdown, well drilled set pieces, rock-solid defence; all attacking raids are coming on the back of a solid platform laid upfront by the forwards. and that’s all happening on fisher’s watch.

coming back to canberra after three years in ireland wasn’t a difficult decision, fisher says, but not necessarily a case of home calling.

“i’d done my three years at munster, and i was looking for another opportunity. Like anything in rugby it was all about the timing,” fisher told pLay.

“an opportunity to come home, and lift a side out of difficulty was really enticing. when i took over here [as brumbies head coach, in 2005], it was off winning a super rugby championship; when i went to munster, they’d just won europe [the heineken cup, in 2007/2008]. it’s hard to take teams forward when they’re at the absolute top of their game.

“so this was the first opportunity to go to a side, and fortuitously back to a side where i’d started, who were at the other end of the table and you get a chance to really test your coaching. it was an opportunity too good to refuse.”

interestingly, fisher says he wasn’t surprised that the playing group were able to shake off the ‘unheralded’ tag so early last season, and that the so-close-yet-so-far experience of 2012 was a reward for some subtle tweaks in the brumbies game very early in the piece; tweaks that have provided the platform to emerge as contenders in 2013.

“having had a look at what super rugby had to offer [prior to returning from ireland], there’s a few basic things that if you do well, you’re going to be competitive. if you have a simple game that everyone understands

and you’re fit, and if your basic skill level is good and you set piece is good, you’re going to be competitive. you’re not going to have a two-game winning season; you’re going to win your fair share of games.

“To get all the basics right won’t win you a championship, but it’ll get you competitive and that was where we were last year. so i wasn’t surprised with where we were on the table; in the end i was disappointed we didn’t go further, obviously. and from that, we’ve worked hard to grow our game this year.”

back at the end of 2011, fisher told a brumbies members forum that he wanted to bring some of the famous munster intensity - particularly at training - to the brumbies, and more than eighteen months later, he’s starting to see that come through. as always, it’s an ongoing project.

“To some extent [the inter-squad intensity is lifting], and i think there’s a way to go.

“[The munster players] would go toe-to-toe, and particularly in big weeks when tempers are short, and you’d want to do some live stuff. and the guys here are good at doing short, intense bursts and have a crack at each other, too; they’re all up for that.

“but you can’t just click your fingers and create that kind of intensity. we’re learning that, and we’re developing that, and we get it in fits and starts, but we’re not yet a team that turns up and plays with that natural intensity week in, week out, for 80 minutes. we are improving though, and it’s a continued focus because i do think urgency and intensity will get you a long way.”

fisher puts a lot of his success with the brumbies this time around down to the systems put into play by Jake white, whereby everyone in the coaching staff are able to put their entire focus into their own areas of responsibility, while white himself remains the ‘salesman’ out front.

“The buck stops with the head coach,” fisher says, “and to Jake’s credit he gives his people responsibility andholdsthemaccountablefortheprogress(orlackof) in their areas. he doesn’t tell you what to do; he tells you what he expects.”

fisher dismisses as “ridiculous” the online suggestions that the solution to the wallabies game is to just drop the brumbies coaching team into the national setup, but admits it is somewhat satisfying to be spoken of in those terms while very typically deflecting praise back to his players.

“it is, but again, it’s easy to take credit for things going well in your program, but dan palmer does an outstanding job with the scrum, ben mowen does an outstanding job with the lineout, so sometimes you’re taking credit for things that everyone is sharing in.

“it’s obviously nice to be spoken of nicely - you’d rather be spoken of nicely than constantly criticised - but that’s not why you do it. you do it because there’s an enormous amount of satisfaction in doing something well and seeing your handiwork produce results.”

the seConD-Coming of laurie fisherLost in amongst all the feel-good stories of the revolution of the brumbies under Jake white, from cellar-dwellers in 2011 to leading the super rugby standings in 2013 and the likely large representation in wallaby squads, has been one important little detail. by brett mckay @bmcsport

“So this was the first opportunity to go to a side ... who were at the other

end of the table and you get a chance to really test your coaching. it was an

opportunity too good to refuse.”


the john i Dent Cup april wrap The Tuggeranong Vikings remained the only unbeaten side in the 2013 John i dent cup as they look to grip their stranglehold on the competition and their title defence. by Joshua matic @maticJm

despite changes in their playing roster and an overhaul in their coaching staff, they have amassed 92 points in just three games to have three wins from three starts, with one bye, at the end of round four.

They immediately showed their flare in a round two 30-14 dispatch of the gungahlin eagles, but their true colours shined when they managed to come from behind to beat wests Lions 19-17 in what was the 2012 grand final rematch.

They then ran rampant over Queanbeyan in round four, smashing them 43-21 in what was the competitions first real top of the table clash, with Queanbeyan having been unbeaten until then.

There is little doubt they have pushed aside the pre-season doubters, many of whom saw weaknesses in the Vikings due to the preseason changes.

after his side’s heavy loss in round four, Queanbeyan whites coach adam fahey had completely different ideas of the Vikings.

“They’ve got depth, they’ve got good structures in place which have continued on for the last couple of years,” he said.

“They’re still the benchmark side for everyone to aspire to at this point in the season.”

his own squad showed promising signs to start the season as well, with comprehensive defeats of eastern suburbs and the uni-norths owls.

They have accumulated the most points this season so far, with 104, thanks largely to scoring 38 and 45 points in their two wins respectively.

The whites stood second on the ladder after round four with just the one loss, and fahey credited his men’s execution in attack and their options as the catalyst so far.

at the opposite end of the scale, eastern suburbs have stunned the competition by scoring two wins out of four games- their only victories in 22 months.

The lowly side of the past couple of seasons failed to win at all last season, but their magical moment came in round one when they dispatched uni-norths 20-11, leaving coach Jeremy osbourne over the moon.

“we gutsed out a good win and that’s a good change for the club because it’s probably something that’s lacked over the last few years,” he said after that game.

even more impressive though was their 33-29 win over wests in round four, given that wests are the defending runners-up.

easts have successfully recruited some recognisable brumbies contracted players this season which has undoubtedly helped there cause, with the likes of clyde rathbone, stephan Van der walt and ettienne oosthuizen making significant contributions.

osbourne has been pleased with the way his squad has continued to improve each week and applied structure to their game, which have not happened in recent years.

The uni-norths owls remain the only win-less team in the competition so far, but as it is still early days, they still have the chance to catch up. only one win separates them from fourth placed wests, who have one win.

The gungahlin eagles and canberra royals make up the remainder of the middle of the competition, with one and two wins respectively.

The royals sat in third place after round four, with a convincing 52-25 win over uni-norths that round showing they will be in the picture come finals time as well.

John I Dent wrap

proudly brought to

you by

John I Dent wrap

proudly brought to

you by


aiS oPen daY images: andrew finch

greg corliss, shane ivers and damian hannan

sarah reid and keith hawkedoug edward and phil Lynch

Terry and Trish wilkins and sam carterLee hancock and Jason smith


ACTEWAGL MAY EVENTS CALENDAR

Week 1: 06-12 MAY

Saturday 11/05

NEAFL - Ainslie V Queanbeyan 2.00pm Ainslie Oval

PrEM LEAguE - Tugg united V AIS 3pm Kambah Oval 2

CrC - QBN roos V goulburn Workers 3pm Freebody CrC - Tugg Bushrangers V Belco united 3pm greenway CrC - QBN Blues V gungahlin Bulls 3pm Seiffert CrC - West Belco V Woden rams 3pm raiders BelconnenJOHN I DENT - gungahlin V QBN Whites 3.05pm Nicholls JOHN I DENT - Easts V Royals 3.05pm Griffith Oval JOHN I DENT - Wests V uni-Norths 3.05pm Jamison Oval

ICE HOCKEY - Knights V Mustangs 5.30pm Phillip

BASKETBALL - gunners V Dandenong 7.30pm Belco Stad

Sunday 12/05

NEAFL - Tuggeranong V Sydney uni 11.45am greenway

PrEM LEAguE - Cooma SC V Canb City 3pm Nijong Oval PrEM LEAguE - Canb Olympic V Canb City 3pm O’Connor PrEM LEAguE - Monaro V Belco utd. 3pm riverside

NrL - rAIDErS V KNIgHTS 2.00PM CANBErrA STADuIM

ICE HOCKEY - Knights V North Stars 5.00pm Phillip

Week 2: 13-19 MAY

Saturday 18/05

PrEM LEAguE - Belco utd V Tugg united 3pm McKellar

JOHN I DENT - gungahlin V royals 3.05pm Nicholls JOHN I DENT - Vikings V Easts 3.05pm Viking Park JOHN I DENT - QBN White V uni-Norths 3.05pm CampeseCrC - Tugg Bushrangers V QBN Blues 3pm greenway CrC - Belco united V goulburn Workers 3pm Northbourne CrC - Woden rams V QBN roos 3pm Phillip CrC - West Belco V gungahlin Bulls 3pm raiders Belconnen

ICE HOCKEY - Knights V Bears 5.30pm Phillip

BASKETBALL - gunners V Mt gambier 7.30pm Belco Stad

Sunday 19/05

PrEM LEAguE - Canb FC V Cooma 3pm Deakin Oval PrEM LEAguE - Canb City V Monaro 3pm Hawker PrEM LEAguE - AIS V Woden 3.15pm AIS grass Field

Week 3: 20-26 MAY

Saturday 25/05

NEAFL - Belconnen V Broadbeach 11.45am Kippax NEAFL - Ainslie V Sydeny Swans 2.00pm Ainslie Oval NEAFL - Tuggeranong V Hills Eagles 2.00pm greenway NEAFL - Eastlake V Sydney uni 2..00pm Star Track Manuka

ACTEWAGL AThLETE oN ThE RiSETad Dufelmeier jnr - Basketball.

Dufelmeier was selected to represent Australia at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival earlier this year. Playing against some of the most talented junior basketballers from around the world. Dufelmeier, son of Canberra Cannons legend Tad Snr played a vital role in the Australia gold team which went through the tournament undefeated eventually coming away with the gold medal.

THE ActewAGL Athlete on the Rise recognises and rewards the achievements of our rising sporting talent. The award caters for athletes at all levels of competition. It is not only results that count, but good sportsmanship as well.Do you know someone that qualifies as an ActewAGL Athlete on the Rise? Send all nominations to [email protected]

Saturday 25/05 continued

CrC - Belco utd Scholars V West Belco 3pm Northbourne CrC - gungahlin Bulls V Tugg Bushrangers 3pm raiders belco CrC - QBN Blues V QBN roos 3pm Seiffert Oval CrC - goulburn Workers V Woden rams 3pm Workers

PrEM LEAguE - AIS V Tugg utd 3.15pm AIS grass Field

JOHN I DENT - Vikings V QBN Whites 3.05pm Vikings Park JOHN I DENT - uNI-North V royals 3.05pm ANu North JOHN I DENT - Wests V gungahlin 3.05pm Jamison Oval

Sunday 26/05

NEAFL - Belconnen V gWS 11.45am Kippax

PrEM LEAguE - Canb FC V Canb Olympic 3pm Deakin PrEM LEAguE - Canb City V Cooma 3pm Hawker PrEM LEAguE - Belco united V Monaro 3pm McKellar

Week 4: 27 MAY - 2 JuNE

Friday 31/05 BruMBIES V HurrICANES 7.40pm Canberra Staduim

Saturday 01/06

NEAFL - Tuggeranong V Ainslie 2.00pm greenway

PrEM LEAguE - Belco united V AIS 3pm McKellar

JOHN I DENT - Wests V QBN Whites 3.05pm Jamison Oval JOHN I DENT - uni-North V Vikings 3.05pm ANu North JOHN I DENT - Easts V Gungahlin 3.05pm Griffith Oval

Sunday 02/06

NEAFL - Eastlake V Queanbeyan 2.00pm Star Track Manuka

PrEM LEAguE - Canb City V Woden 3pm Hawker PrEM LEAguE - Tugg united V Canb FC 3pm Kambah Oval PrEM LEAguE - Canb Olympic V Monaro 3pm O’Connor

More reasons to follow us.As Principal Partner of the Centenary of Canberra, we will be able to offer access to upcoming major events. Keep up with what’s happening locally, win tickets and access exclusive events on our Facebook page.

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pushing baCK against the ChilDhooD epiDemiC of inaCtivitywe regularly read about childhood inactivity and the physical and social impacts on those suffering from it. alarming statistics show about a quarter of acT children are now recognised as obese or overweight. how do we reverse this trend? The physical activity foundation is having a go and pLay magazine is getting involved.

in 2010, this question regularly troubled a local group of community members. but thinking alone was not going to make any impact. instead, they took action to turn back this tragic sedentary tide engulfing children.

The physical activity foundation was soon born. its goal is simple: to prevent the early onset of diseases in children that come from a sedentary lifestyle. To achieve that, healthy lifestyle choices need to be taught to acT children and their carers to influence early behaviour change.

sue marriage, ceo of the foundation, along with her dynamic community board, dominated by sports mad professionals, accepts the challenge unreservedly.

“inactive kids are our focus,” she said. “but most inactive kids either don’t want to be active, or can’t be, for one reason or another. often sport doesn’t attract them as they are reluctant to participate through fear of failure or embarrassment. To connect with these kids, we’ve had to move outside our comfort zones right from the start. Thinking about creative, outdoor and active play pursuits and aids to get kids to move has been a learning curve, but we enjoy it and it pays social dividends.”

72 schools, 1200 classrooms and 25,000 students directly engaged

The active kids challenge, the foundation’s flagship program, hosted in primary schools in Term 3, continues to grow in participants and activities. it has themed weeks of health messages, backed by fun activities, colourful classroom wall charts and online teacher resources. To motivate schools to register and participate, the foundation also donates sports equipment vouchers to each participating challenge school at the end.

sue continues ‘for young children, role models are important for kids to learn from. we have this covered too with activators on our website telling their stories about being an active kid. some are elite sports people. others are artists or community leaders. regardless of their current roles, it’s their big kid messages we like to share with participating classrooms during the challenge to inspire the kids.’

importantly, the tidal swell of community support for this cause increases each year. with base government support, the foundation relies on financial and contra support from community businesses for its survival.

‘we are strongly supported,” sue marriage said, “by eastlake football club, acTTab, Link digital, BendigoBank(MolongloCommunityBankbranches),rhsports, pLay magazine, some local sporting groups and many creative individuals that donate their funds and talents to help us out. it’s overwhelming but we all understand the importance of our efforts in making a difference’.

what started out as a mission to help change the grim life outlook facing local kids who are inactive, is turning into a community revolution to fight back. planning for the 2013 challenge is underway and others are welcome to join the cause as supporters or activators.

Sue marriage, the ceo of the Physical activity foundation can be contacted at [email protected] or on 0417 445 052.


girls partiCipation in rugby leagueThe canberra region rugby League this year will re-introduce a 10 week u14’s girls competition on the back of a successful turnout of over 50 girls at a try out day in early april. by Joshua matic @maticJm

The high number of girls who turned out for the occasion impressed crrL and australian rugby League development officers, who aim to establish a competition featuring five teams from the acT and Queanbeyan.

while final registration numbers are still unknown, ten girls attended an official information session on may 1, with a further 15 who were unavailable still showing interest in the competition.

however, crrL junior administrator nikki mcLean said 50 was still a realistic number.

“we are still hoping for 50 girls to make 5 teams, with a competition start date of the end of may, with the grand final at canberra stadium on the 14th or 15th of september,” she said.

“we have also been asked to see if we can get enough

girls for an u16 girls competition, so we are looking at this possibility as well.”

each of the five proposed teams, which would have seven players, will be linked to already existing junior rugby league clubs, with professional coaching and first aid provided. Tackling will be involved in the competition as well.

“The cost for the season is $20- this covers insurance, and we will provide a jersey, socks and shorts.”

games will be held at northbourne oval at 5:30pm, except the grand final, and two teams will play each week.

The successful interest numbers come off the back of significant increases in female participation within the australian rugby League.

in 2012, arL development saw a spike of twenty per cent in female participation numbers for rugby league within both club and school competitions.

Last year 750,000 female school students across australia and new Zealand participated in clinics operated by arL development officers.

as of the start of 2013, female player registrations across australia stood at 16,010, which was a significant increase of 3202 compared to twelve months prior.

This is a credit to the arL development sector, which through their women in League initiative, which encourages female involvement in the sport, has ridded the perception that the sport is for men.

in 2011 a carnival held in redcliffe, brisbane attracted 500 female school students from all over north and south Queensland.

That same year, arL development held another carnival in wide bay, Queensland, which saw 130 primary school girls from 40 schools play 30 games and take part in tackling clinics.

The development of female participation across the country has been so successful in recent years that last year the Queensland rugby League was able to run 15 women’s competitions, while the new south wales rugby League held four.

This year, the southeast Queensland rugby League is running a women’s competition with 15 participating clubs in u15’s and u18’s divisions, while the brisbane and districts open female competition is fielding 10 teams.

The nswrL has also made steps with women’s rugby league in sydney, with the sydney metropolitan women’s rugby League competition having six competing teams this year.

The crrL is now looking to mimic these two states.

until this year, female participation in the crrL has been too low for female-only competitions to be established.

however 2013 has seen a promising start with female interest numbers, and this will prove pivotal in maintaining their 10 week competition.

any girls aged between 12 and 16 interested in playing should have their parents or guardians contact nikki mcLean at [email protected].

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aCColaDes Keep rolling in for the Cavalry Two canberra cavalry stars were recently honoured at the baseball australia diamond awards on the gold coast.

at the conclusion of the abL’s third season, the cavalry made history by claiming their first claxton shield title. This historic campaign, that culminated in the first triple crown in abL history, has netted canberra cavalry infielder adam buschini the league’s sam baT champion crusher award and the prestigious helms award. The helms award honours the 2012/13 most Valuable player of the australian baseball League and was announced at the recent baseball australia diamond awards on the gold coast.

buschini’s remarkable 2012/13 season included the league’s first triple crown as the now san diego padres prospect led the abL in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in, helping to lead the cavalry to their first ever claxton shield. buschini beat out a pair of sydney blue sox for the accolade: pitcher craig anderson and outfielder mitch dening. a former fourth-round draft selection of the philadelphia phillies in 2009, buschini found himself out of affiliated baseball after just two injury-plagued seasons and some struggles at the plate. in the spring of 2012, he arrived in the nation’s capital, ready to take another shot at resuscitating his career. mission accomplished.

buschini surpassed the .300-mark in batting average on 21 december and never looked back. The right-handed hitter batted .363 for the season, blasting 15 home runs to tie a league record, and driving in 50 runs to obliterate the previous abL best. in addition to being honoured with the helms award, buschini was also tabbed winner of the 2012/13 sam baT champion crusher award.

as buschini went, so did the cavalry. canberra’s .295 team batting average was 28 points better than any other team in the league. The claxton shield

champions blasted 56 home runs as a club, 17 more than second-place adelaide, and canberra’s 264 runs scored paced the circuit, as well. The cavalry clinched the abL’s top postseason seed at the end of the regular season, earning a direct trip through to host the abL championship series. There, canberra swept two-time reigning champions perth for the first claxton shield crown in acT history.

california native buschini capitalised on his outstanding campaign, signing a new contract with the san diego padres at the conclusion of the 2012/13 abL season. currently, the 25-year-old is plying his trade at double-a san antonio where he has played in 13 games for the missions.

another cavalry slugger starred in the league’s play of the year. Veteran michael wells’s tiebreaking solo home run late in game two of the 2013 abL championship series tipped the scales of the title set and led canberra to victory. in the bottom of the seventh of game 2, wells hammered the ball over the left-centre field wall to give canberra a 7-6 lead. as he reached the dugout, wells was mobbed by his teammates who would not relinquish the advantage en route to clinching the crown.

opening day for the 2013/14 australian baseball league season is just six months away. cavalry memberships are on sale now.

buschini’s remarkable 2012/13 season included the league’s first triple crown as the now

San diego Padres prospect led the abl in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in, helping to lead the cavalry to their first

ever claxton Shield


Deputy Chief minister launChes Community banKs® ‘100 Community heroes’ Campaign acT deputy chief minister, andrew barr, today launched the 100 community heroes campaign, a unique initiative of acT and Queanbeyan community bank® branches offering $100,000 worth of grants for local charities and community groups.

“The campaign—launched in honour of canberra’s centenary and our 10th anniversary—will see our calwell, curtin, Jerrabomberra, and wanniassa branches provide 100 grants worth $1000 each to 100 organisations,” community bank® chairman, mr Jayson hinder, said.

“That’s a total of $100,000.

“The campaign calls on canberra and Queanbeyan residents to nominate their favourite local charity or community group to receive $1000. it offers locals the chance to do what our community bank® branches do every day—provide money back to their community.”

nominations can be made online at www.100communityheroes.com.au from 1 may to 19

June 2013. The 100 people whose grant nominations are successful—the 100 community heroes—will be invited to present a $1000 cheque, at specially arranged events, to the group they nominated.

The deputy chief minister attended today’s launch of the campaign at the curtin community bank branch.

“it is great to see local business give back so generously to the community. This is an initiative which will directly support the work of 100 charities and community groups and i commend all the branches for their generosity and ongoing support of their local communities,” the deputy chief minister said.

community bank® branches are locally owned and operated companies which function as franchises

of bendigo and adelaide bank. a core tenet of a community bank®—and a key differential with other banks—is to return up to 80% of profits to the local community in the form of community contributions and sponsorships.

in 10 years, the calwell, curtin, Jerrabomberra, and wanniassa branches have returned over $1 million.

“The community heroes campaign is one element of our 2013 grants and sponsorship program which, in honour of the centenary and our 10th anniversary, will see us distribute a record $300,000,” mr hinder said.

“This includes $100,000 to help set up a new bulk-billing medical centre in Tuggeranong, the $100,000 in community hero grants and five grants worth $20,000 each.

“These centenary year initiatives are an important way for us to show our ongoing support for charities, community groups and volunteers who are out there every day making a difference.”


boomerangs fs (futebol sala) is Canberra’s very own elite futsal Clubin one of the fastest growing indoor sports in the world, canberra is well represented by a club which enters teams into australia’s elite futsal competitions.

boomerangs fs competes in the capital football ACTFutsalPremierLeague(men’sandwomen’s),theFootballNSWFutsalPremierLeague(nineteamsfromu12s through to open men’s and women’s), and the f-League.

boomerangs fs draws it’s talented player roster from across all acT futsal competitions including the northside and southside junior competitions, the cf Junior premier League and the capital football men’s and women’s futsal competitions.

in the 2012 acT men’s premier League, boomerangs entered two teams under it’s own name, in addition to supporting the participation of an under 16s and a youth men’s team competing in the open age competition.

The boomerang’s journey to the acT, nsw and australian elite futsal system has been a story of rapid rise and success. in 2009/2010 the boomerangs were admitted to the nsw super League - the second tier competition. it took just one year of adjusting to this higher level competition, including participating in frequent away games to various parts of sydney, for the club to show its true form. The second year of super League in 2010/2011 saw the boomerangs blitz the opposition, having all nine teams make the finals, four winning their grand final and easily winning the club championship by a massive 30 points.

2011/2012 saw a newly promoted boomerangs fs play in the top tier, nsw premier League competition. and

after two ‘developmental’ seasons in the top flight competition, the boomerangs can now proudly claim a champion team, after a fantastic win by the 16 boys in the grand final played in april this year defeating the previously unbeaten enfield rovers twice in the finals series. The youth men’s team also played finals futsal but were eliminated by a strong phoenix team at the first hurdle. also coming close to finishing in the top four were the open men’s team and the 16 girls. The club is confident of having more teams finishing in the top four in 2013/2014 and playing finals futsal.

however important the nsw premier League may be - and it is the best development pathway for both boys and girls - the ultimate is the aspiringly national f-League. boomerangs fs were one of six teams to play in the inaugural year of f-League in 2011. one seasonlater(2012)sawthecompetitiongrowtoeightteams - three from sydney, four from melbourne and the boomerangs representing the acT. season 2012 saw the boomerangs men perform strongly, and although satisfied with their top four finish, the club rued missed opportunities and not converting the close games - winning the close encounters would have resulted in a higher finish on the competition table.

The ultimate winner of the men’s f-League in 2012 - dural warriors - have recently returned from participating in the asian football federation futsal

club championships in malaysia, where they narrowly missed qualifying for the finals to be played in Japan in august. participating in the high quality asian competition is what drives australian futsal teams, including the boomerangs.

additionally, the f-League is the premier futsal competition in australia, and australian futsal selectors keep a close eye on player’s form throughout the competition. The national side - the futsalroos - are scheduled to play a range of internationals later this year, including a three game series against new Zealand.

The australian futsalroos, in 2012, participated in the fifa futsal world cup held in Thailand. The team performed creditably, but ultimately suffered from a draw which saw them in the same group as argentina and italy - two of the higher ranked countries in the world. The boomerangs fs men’s team of 2012 contained several current and past australian international players.

The most exciting development in 2013 is the inclusion of a women’s f-League competition - and with the boomerangs having also been accepted in this competition, it provides a significant opportunity for our local elite female futsal players. The women’s f-League will include teams, not only from melbourne, canberra and sydney, but also from brisbane.

The f-League is played in a ‘series weekend’ format where all eight teams meet at one venue over a weekend, from friday night to sunday evening. each team typically plays three games over the weekend series.

in 2013, the men’s competition will be played in sydney for the opening and closing weekends ofseason(31May-2Juneand17-18August),inmelbourne the weekends of 21-23 June and 13-14 July andinCanberra,attheAIS(TrainingHalls)onthe3-4august.

The women’s f-League will be played across three series weekends in canberra, melbourne and sydney, withtheCanberraseriesheldattheAIS(Traininghalls) on the weekend of 8-9 June.


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surfers against suiCiDe manly pro-am the Canberra ConneCtionsaturday 13th april 2013, the world’s most famous surfer kelly slater joined nsw waratahs stars adam ashley-cooper, drew mitchell, Lachie Turner and phil waugh on manly beach for a celebrity pro-am surfing competition.

The joint initiative between the waratahs and surf brand komunity project, was organised to raise money for the charity surfers against suicide. pLay canberra headed to the unfamiliar surrounds for a canberra sports magazine to check it out and find out more about the canberra connection.

TheobjectiveofSurfersAgainstSuicide(SAS)istogalvanize the international surfing community to raise and distribute funds to support organizations that contribute to a reduction in death by suicide by promoting health and resilience amongst young people.

we caught up with one of the founders of sas, canberra businessman mark whithear to see how an international surfing organization begun in canberra of all places.

The unassuming mark begun “we were talking about mentoring and our ideas on mentoring. i’ve got 5 boys andJohn(Sayer)hasgot5kidsaswellandIsayto

my boys: if you lose a girlfriend or the job or whatever it is and you think it’s all too bad, go to the coast with your shorts and your board and paddle out back, have a look back and see if it all seems too bad from there. sometimes you need to get back to basics, the big thing about surfing is: you pick up your board, nothing else and just jump in the water. it doesn’t matter if you’re really good or really crap, you end up having a good time. it’s that lack of preparation needed for surfing, and getting in touch with nature and the feel of the water that makes surfing great therapy.

“John owns a surf company that kelly slater owns 50% of(KomunityProject)andJohnissomeonethathasthe ability to make things happen. John was inspired by comingtotheMenslinkbreakfastandMartin(CEOofmenslink) said – you could have surfers against suicide and John said “yep” and in typical John style, bang.

“a friend of mine is the ceo of the mental health counsel and thought it was a great idea so he arranged a meeting with patrick mcgorry, a world leader in suicide prevention andanAustralianoftheYear(2010)andhesaid–thisisfantastic and agreed to be our patron which is fantastic for us”.

aimed at the street smart surf community the organizers knew there was no beating around the bush when it came to naming the organization.

“we went through a few issues of what to call it – do we use the word suicide in the title? and there were a few people that said no. but pat and martin both said yes. we’ve gotta get the message out there. with a name like surfers against suicide it gets the message out there.

and what better ambassador to help spread the word than the world’s most famous surfer kelly slater. i personally haven’t witnessed anything like the response kelly received during his time on manly beach. it was more rock star than athelte.

“yes, kelly commands almost as much attention as the president, less security of course. him coming to the manly event means instead of having 5,000 people we had 40,000. it was great event and we had a lot of success.

and the sas team are taking the message around the world helping local charities wherever the competitions are run.

“wherever we have a competition the money raised goes to a local charity to help prevent suicide in that area. our next event is in california and the one after is in portugal. we get emails from all around the world.

“we have emails from people that have had family members commit suicide and they didn’t realize there was a problem. no one asked him if he was ok. now when they look back there were signs but, our message is: everytimesomeonehasasignificantlifeevent(suchaslosing a job) you need to ask “are you ok”?

SaS is looking for partners and people to support their cause. if you would like to get involved or contribute, please register your details at www.surfersagainstsuicide.org


far more discreetly, a similarly generation of former elite players whose careers are also inextricably intertwined, is now setting about reviving the fortunes of canberra’s gunners in this their 25th anniversary year.

The gunners new coaching staff of cameron barnes (picturedright),DavidClose(picturedleft)andGrantKeyshave been in the exact same place their players are now and the meshing of their three distinct personalities is already having a transformational effect on the program.

The gunners have always had a unique place in the south east australian basketball League or “seabL”

and its previous incarnations throughout their twenty-five year history. Traditionally an amateur team playing in a second tier semi-professional competition that spans the eastern half of the country, they have made an art form of punching way above their weight.

for first year head coach cameron barnes, linking with close and keys has been a familiar fit and crucial link to the club’s history.

“david was good mates with my brother brad growing up and we all went to Templestowe high school in suburban melbourne. we were always playing in our

backyard to the point that he became like another brother to us.

Then he went off to play in the national League and eventually arrived back in canberra to play with the cannons in 1994 when i was part of the squad.”

Though close finished his playing career with a bevy of nbL shooting records and the nickname “radar” in 1998, cameron was still playing for the gunners in 2001 when keys arrived in the nation’s capital to try and restore the fortunes of a gunners group that was ailing and now coached by brad barnes.

That revival happened amazingly quickly with the gunners first and only silverware appearing in 2003 when they captured the seabL east conference championship with keys as the frontcourt centerpiece.

it’s hard to imagine a more intertwined coaching history when you lay it all out.

barry barnes grows up in suburban melbourne and finds his way to coach his country at four olympic games, has two sons who also find their way into coaching via playing and somehow knock out a heavyweight to win canberra’s only seabL title. Then the youngest son takes up the reins joins up with two of his family friends and playing buddies to try and revive their beloved gunners after a forgettable 2012 season.

Talking to all three coaches there is a familiar theme of pride in the fact that they are now part of steering a club that in its quarter of a century has captured a lot of what the city of canberra is about.

all migrated from other much larger cities to canberra for the sport yet stayed and are now raising their own families in their new home and enjoying the sense of community support that hardly any modern cities can offer any more.

The gunners promising start to this 2013 season has to this point mostly been put down to the recruitment of electric american point guard camontae griffin and nbL stars Jeff dowdell and daniel Joyce.

and whilst their presence has undoubtedly been a fantastic thing for the sport’s profile and had belconnen stadium bursting to the seams again, the presence of parts of canberra’s own golden generation has rekindled the passion and pride in the gunners program as they embark on the next quarter of a century.

gunners 25-year revival has a golDen tingeargentina’s golden generation of basketballers is revered in sporting folklore. ginóbili, scola, delfino, nocioni and a host of other now nba stars just happened to grow up, play and stay together through the nineties, culminating in an almost unthinkable olympic gold medal at the 2004 summer olympics. by brendan parnell @brendanparnell

centenarY matchThe Capitals have already celebrated and now it’s the Gunners turn. The Gunners take on Dandenong in a Round 8 Centenary of Canberra Match of the 2013 South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL). Dress up in your best Gunners yellow to celebrate the Centenary of Canberra to win some great prizes! Tickets to the game are available at the door. Saturday may 11th, Gunners v dandenong 7.30pm tip-off belconnen basketball Stadium


Canberra paintballers earn national seleCtionThree canberra paintballers have earned selection in an australian squad selected to play a test match against a new Zealand team in sydney on friday 17 may.

david Turner and mark mcelligott from canberra’s uprising and mitch hackett who plays for sydney team

shenanigans, will join 11 other players from sydney and the central coast, brisbane and adelaide in a 14 man squad which will take part in the match at sydney’s action paintball games field the day prior to round 2 of the australian super 7s Tournament series in may.

The three played together with uprising for the last 5 years during which time uprising moved from division 3, through division 2 where they finished 2nd in the series championship in 2010 and 2011, before moving up to division 1 in 2012, where they finished 3rd overall for the series.

shenanigans stepped up from division 2 to division 1 this year with hackett moving to bolster their squad. The teams played off for 3rd and 4th in round 1 of this year’s super 7s, with shenanigans edging out uprising in a one vs one playoff after the score was tied at the end of regular time.

while the super 7s series involves 5 man teams, the australia new Zealand clash will involve a race to 5 points with 10 man teams, with on-field players changing as required for each match point.

all three have previously played for the acT in the super 7s annual state of origin series, which also follows the 10 man format and are looking forward to playing together with players that til now have been opponents. They are also looking forward to the hectic pace of the 10 man game where with paintball markers firing 15 balls per second, there can be up to 9000 balls coming at their team in any minute!

The result of the test match and of the super 7s event on 18/19 may can be followed at www.facebook.com/super7spaintball?fref=ts or www.super7spaintball.com.

image: bunkered! photography

auDible soCCer ball allows Claire to play by elizabeth mcpherson

The Tuggeranong diamonds under-11 girls kicked of the 2013 optus small-sided football girls under-11 blue competition season this weekend using the first firestorm audible soccer ball approved by capital football.

it looks and feels like any normal ball used in the competition, except this ball makes noise. it is filled with magnets that make a bell like sound when in motion, which allows 10 year old claire falls, who has suffered from strabismus, a vision impairment since she was in kindergarten, to distinguish where, and how far the ball is from her.

This is the first year the ball has been used after capital football approved the Vision australia soccer ball when

they were contacted by claire’s mother after her vision faded rapidly last year.

“her vision deteriorated quickly since august last year,” shari, claire’s mother, explained as she watched her daughter from the sideline. “she has no 3 dimensional vision, no perception of depth, everything to her is flat. she told me the other day that her life is like a moving picture book.”

you wouldn’t know this soccer mad canberra united fan was vision impaired and her never-say-die attitude may one day see her achieve her dream of playing in the big league.

“This is my third year playing and i really enjoy defending as i get to help out the goalie and stop goals,” she says with a smile beaming from her face after defeating the woden Valley gazzelles 6-0. “my goal is to be a player for canberra united. nicole sykes is my favorite player.”

The Vision australia ball didn’t hinder the game one bit with the gazelles coach, russell gordard admitting he and his team didn’t even know who the ball was for.

“The ball was normal except for the sound of course but honestly we didn’t even know who needed the ball,” gordard said.

claire sure has a great way of looking at things and is very thankful for all the support she receives not only from her family and friends but also from the Tuggeranong united club she adores.

“when i handed her the Vision australia ball, she had a look of disbelief on her face, she couldn’t believe that someone would do that for her and let her continue to do what she loves.” claire’s mum said “if it wasn’t for Vision australia creating the ball, claire wouldn’t be able to play the game she loves and without capital football working alongside Vision australia to make this happen, kids like claire wouldn’t be able to participate”

The firestorm audible soccer ball will be used in every game claire plays in the actewagL Junior League competition this season.


above: us college basketball final - The Tradies

below: annual australian Turf bowling carnival

opposite page: nrL anZac Test dinner

images: andrew finch

megan salic and bridget crane

patrick mcneil and penina reid

Tony Jackson, darcy maone and the american ambassador to australia Jeffrey bleich

angela maher, darcy malone, christopher martin and sam wongcamontae griffin with rik and Jonathon millerdilip T and Jed Johnson


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a new synergy with aCt rugby referees by brett mckay @bmcsport

The brumbies last month announced an important community and club rugby sponsorship deal, with canberra-based accounting and consulting firm, synergy, becoming the new front-of-jersey sponsor for acT rugby referees through until the end of the 2015 season.

brumbies rugby ceo, andrew fagan, spoke to pLay canberra about the importance of the deal for local rugby, and of the crucial place in the brumbies’ overall sponsorship revenue that is played by canberra-based businesses and organisations.

“it’s a vitally important thing for local rugby,” fagan begins.

“one of the most important things that it does is give credibility to the local rugby competition, that local companies like synergy want to associate with the grassroots of the game here in canberra and the broader region.

“They’re a company that is developing quickly themselves, they’re building a very strong brand here in canberra, and for them to have this sponsorship deal as part of their growth platform and part of their reinvestment strategy into the community is really

important for them, but equally, it’s great recognition for the rugby products we have.

“and for the local competition, we all know that referees are a critical component of our game; we simply don’t have a game without them,” fagan said.

The partnership - worth $180,000 over the three years - is said to be among the highest competition-wide sponsorship deals in acT rugby and possibly even the highest ever.

it will form a major component of total community rugby budget for the coming seasons, which in addition to referee development, includes activities such as coaching development programs, running the various competitions, player development programs for the more talented athletes, promotion of rugby into schools, and development and funding of representative teams.

“community rugby runs on a budget of around a million dollars a year that we invest into the game and it’s important for us to generate the revenue to support that ongoing investment,” fagan explains.

“we view this [the referee’s jersey] as one of our blue-chip properties within the community rugby portfolio, and synergy’s three year investment gives some certainty to our ongoing support of the referees, and obviously, the ongoing support of community rugby.”

Just as importantly, the deal shows that there is still a place for local business and companies to get behind the game locally.

“There’s some wonderful rugby supporters within synergy, and some people that have been involved previously with the sponsorship of the referees and community rugby. so they know it that it works,” fagan said.

“synergy are the fastest growing accounting and professional services firm in canberra, and it’s great that they saw [brumbies rugby] on a similar growth curve as themselves, and it’s a vote of confidence for our organisation.”

australian Dragon boat Championships 2013canberra crews out paddled their opposition to new personal bests and several podium positions at the australian championships in penrith.

each season canberra crews grow in strength and competitiveness. The once small group of dragon boaters is now boasting over 800 paddlers and continues to thrive.

with many highlights throughout the week no one could go past the amazing finish in the premier mixed 20’s major final that saw 2 canberra crews, ice dragons and komodo battle it out side by side to place 5 and 8th respectively with only 1.3sec between 1st and 8th. The true spirit of dragon boating was definitely on show!

The fierceness of the competition had the best performing premier crews from last season really having to lift their game. ice dragons came away with a bronze in the premier women’s 2000m but no doubt they will be determined to chase down their competitors and will be back next year to prove a point.

The ever increasingly popular 10’s boats have become Komodo’spremiercategoryforitsSeniorA(Master)women’s crew, taking out silver in the 200m in a time of 57.475 and silver in the 500m. This places komodo in a great position to be selected to compete in italy in 2014.

grammar gave it’s all this season to outclass many of the junior teams with their 4 crews in most major finals. They came home with 1 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze. cdba now recognise the challenge to grow its junior category by

inviting any junior 13 and above to have a go in this ever increasingly popular sport.

other crews that performed beyond cdba’s expectations and made a major final included diamond phoenix in the senior a women’s 20’s, 200 & 500m placing 4th. dragon

Flyersplacing5thintheSeniorB(Grandmaster) women’s mixed 200m & 500m and placing 2nd in the senior b 2000m, and navmat placing 6th in the premier mixed 10’s 200m and 9th in 500m. also canberra griffins, uni dragons and dragon hawks made a minor final in their respective categories.

in the state v state title the acT crews performed extremely well. our juniors took out gold in the Junior open’s category and 3rd in the mixed. our premier women’s paddled to an awesome finish that had them walk away with 3rd. our other teams finished strongly and had everyone on the edge of their seats as many finished just shy of a podium.

The cdba congratulates all canberra crews that took part in the 2013 australian championships and would like to further congratulate the 24 paddlers and 1 sweep selected from canberra to represent australia in hungary this year. good Luck auroras!

there is a ‘come and try’ day on Sat 31st august 2013 at Southern cross Yacht club, Yarralumla. Please contact [email protected] for more details.


Champions aren’t made in the gyms.

Champions are made from something

they have deep inside them.

A desire, a dream, a vision.

- Muhammad Ali

Sport: The good stuff in life.

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aCt triathlon Club taKes on nsw in its first year as a triathlon club, acT’s performance Triathlon coaching has taken on the big guns in the Triathlon nsw club championships and returned as champions!

a team of eleven athletes travelled to forster to compete in the nsw Triathlon club championships where it was the first time that acT triathlon clubs were eligible to compete in the 1k swim, 30k bike and 8k run event. over 1,000 athletes competed at the event, and head coach,

corey bacon, could not have been prouder when six of his triathletes finished in the top ten overall.

Triathletes nuru somi and shane farrant were first and second across the line respectively and their fellow team mates also had podium finishes in the 15-19, 20-24 and 25-29 year age groups. The team’s collective efforts resulted in pTc taking out the championship for division 3 category which includes the largest number of nsw and acT clubs.

founded in the 2012-13 season, performance Triathlon Coaching(PTC)isasmallclubspecialisinginjuniorand senior triathletes aiming to compete at an elite or national level. several members of pTc have risen from the junior ranks and are now a dominant force in the under 23 and elite arena, competing both locally and internationally and representing australia at age group world championships.

This season has been packed with other highlights including the crowning of 19 year old grant melzer as the world and australian olympic distance champion (16-19yearagegroup),RobbieSkillmanastheAustralianOlympicandSprintDistanceChampion(25-29yearagegroup), shane farrant as the australian sprint distance Champion(20-24yearagegroup),andJonathanGoerlachand michael milton crowned as the australian champions in the Tri 6 and 2 categories at the australian paratriathlon championships.

The nsw Triathlon club championships marked the end of the 2012-13 season for triathlons, but there’s no rest for the team in the ‘off-season’ with shane farrant flying out to china to compete in an elite event in chengdu where some of the best athletes in the world will compete. other members of the team flying to the gold coast to compete in the Luke harrop memorial gold coast Triathlon this weekend.

The club wishes to thank all the supporters of the club and in particular onyabike civic and belconnen, cannibal, sportscare physiotherapy and elite energy who have come on board as major sponsors of the club.


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COERVER Coaching Master Class Series.Topic: The Pull Through Step Over

Jason LancsarCOERVER® Coaching Asia Pacific DirectorJason Lancsar COERVER® Coaching Asia Pacific DirectorWe hope you enjoy our Coerver Coaching Play Magazine homework designed to improve your game but above all have fun while practicing. Coerver Coaching has been a global leader in 1v1, this month we look at the Pull Through Step Over.

See next issue for more tips from Coerver Coaching or for further information please visit our website www.coerver.com.au

Step 1:Stop the ball with your sole.

Step 2:Step around it with the same foot.

Step 3:Plant your step-round foot to the side of the ball.

Step 4:Pull the ball to the front with the instep of the trailing foot.

1. Don’t kick the ball with your trailing foot but pull it forward with your instep as you step forward.2. As the ball rolls forward, push it with the outside of the step-around foot and accelerate to the side.3. You should use this move in front of your opponent’s goal and when your opponent is in front of you.

Step 5:With the outside of the original step-around foot, take the ball to the side of your opponent and accelerate away.

“A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.”

- Jack Dempsey

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PLAY Canberra Issue 23 May 2013

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