Victoria Simpson won the junior division of the Oz Day 10K event in Sydney on Australia Day. (Photo: Karen Watson)

Victoria Simpson’s brother had to accept the Junior Sportsperson of the Year award on Sunday for her as she was competing in Sydney and won the Oz Day 10K junior division in wheelchair racing.

Victoria excelled at athletics competing in discus, shotput, 100m, 200m and 800m events at the Combined Catholic Colleges and then at the State Championships.

At just 13 years old, Victoria was selected in the Under 25 AIS Wheelchair Basketball side in Canberra and competed at the international women’s wheelchair basketball competition. Her team won the silver medal – going down to the USA side.

GOT IT… Kurt Lovett is the Parkes 2020 Sportsperson of the Year.

Playing for the Kookaburra hockey team is a dream Sportsperson of the Year, Kurt Lovett, has had since year 4.

His mum Fiona discovered a school work sheet from year 4 asking what you want to do when you grow up. Kurt’s written response was to play for the Kookaburra hockey team.

“Dreams do come true,” said his dad John when accepting the award on Sunday as Kurt was in camp in Sydney with the Kookaburras playing Belgium last weekend and Great Britain this weekend.

“I know Kurt is very humble in winning this award, however he has worked extremely hard over the last four years in which he has finally been selected in the Australian Kookaburra hockey team, where he is now based in Perth,” said John.

Kurt had a few individuals he wanted to thank including George Sommers who coached him in his junior years of hockey, Laurie Wakefield who had a lot to do with coaching Kurt in his teenage years and representative hockey, and the Parkes Hockey Association who supported him for the last 18 years.

Senior Sportsperson or Team: Denise Gersbach (Hockey) and Maureen Massey (Hockey). Maureen won two gold medals, one for the Australian Over 65s side and the other with NSW. She was selected to play for Australia in the 2020 World Cup in South Africa. Denise represented Australia in the Over 45s side, and NSW at Nationals winning a silver medal. She also captained the Australian Over 45s indoor side winning a bronze medal in Hong Kong, and has been selected for the Australian Over 45s World Cup side.

Team of the Year: Parkes Public Boys Hockey team took out the NSW State Primary Schools competition winning 6-1 in the final.

Referee, Umpire or Official of the Year: Cody Reynolds (Touch Football) was inducted into the NSW Touch Association’s Talented Referee Youth Squad (TYRS) progressing to a state level 4 referee. He refereed Open Boys grand final at NSW Combined Catholic College (CCC) state championships. He was ranked first at the National Under 15 All School Touch Championships in Canberra, and officiated in the grand final.

Coach, Trainer or Manager of the Year: Josh Miles (Rugby League) led the Trundle Boomers Rugby League side to their third consecutive Woodbridge Cup grand final title in 2019.

Long Service and Dedication Award: Pat Drabsch, Pauline Nicholson, Val Glasheen and Lyn Pengilly (Parkes Tennis Club Canteen) are in their 31st season and have selflessly made a lifelong contribution to the Parkes community.

Administrator of the Year: Cherie John-stone (Junior Hockey) has been instrumental in successfully gaining State Championship allocations for Parkes Hockey. Cherie’s methods have been recognised by Hockey NSW who are now adopting the Parkes model for promotion to other associations.

Ron Harrison Sports Bursary: Henry Kross (Squash), Matty Price (Swimming) and Kyan Redfern (Karate).

SUMMER… More than 230 swimmers from 23 clubs took part in a very successful Parkes Sharks carnival last weekend.

Not even a dusty weekend could stop the Parkes Sharks from hosting a very successful swimming carnival last weekend.

With over 230 swimmers coming to Parkes, the grounds of the pool were very well stacked with parents and officials too, some of whom travelled from Penrith for the event. A total of 23 clubs competed with Kinross Wolaroi, Mudgee Indoor and Forbes Fins the better represented clubs, while a contingent of 83 Parkes members competed.

Representatives of the 11 clubs at the handover of the latest round of the Sports Grants Program.

Close to $48,500 of grants were recently announced for 11 sport clubs in the Parkes Shire under the Sports Grants Funding Program.

Applications for the latest round of the CMOC – Northparkes Mines and Parkes Shire Council program closed in September. The successful applicants were:

Parkes & District Junior Cricket Association – $2,900 to purchase a cricket cover lifting trolley for Northparkes Oval; Parkes Dragon Boat Club – $5,235.55 to extend the roofing of storage containers, paint them and install roof ventilation; Parkes Hockey Incorporated – $15,000 to supply and install additional covered seating; Parkes Railway Bowling Club – $6,000 to purchase a bowling green mower; Parkes Sporting Shooters Association of Australia – $3,000 to erect a man-proof fence; Trundle Pony Club – $3,000 to expand the day stalls at Trundle Showground into overnight yards to safely house horses overnight; Parkes & District Kennel Club – $1,350 to purchase additional agility equipment to replace non-standard gear and allow the club to run events without the need to hire; Parkes & District Netball Association – $400 to purchase new balls and equipment; Parkes Tennis Club Inc. – $5,000 to purchase a special lawn mower with a grooming attachment; Peak Hill Pony Club Inc. – $3,843 to purchase equipment to run structured learning activities and competitions including a portable dressage arena, jumpstart blocks and an Equiball for pony soccer; and Police Citizens Youth Club Ltd Parkes – $3,500 to purchase equipment to run a Free G (Parkour) gymnastics program.

The Parkes Tennis Club filled up with 150 primary school tennis players last Friday for the McDonalds/Magill Interschool trophy.

Parkes Tennis played host to the largest one-day cross stage primary school tennis event in NSW last Friday with the McDonalds/Magill Interschool trophy.

A total of 150 students from all five Parkes primary schools from Stages 1, 2 and 3 were in action across the 15 courts playing in red and green ball competitions.

Parkes Public School retained the Mc- Donalds/Magill Trophy with a win in Stage 3 scoring 38 sets in total. Parkes Christian School played well to finish in second place with 32 sets followed by Holy Family on 24. Parkes East finished with 20 sets and Middleton did very well to score 7 sets for the day.

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE… It was a rare sight to see a dragon boat at Lake Cargelligo when the Parkes Dragon Boat Club went their last weekend.

A new type of craft found its way to Lake Cargelligo last weekend when Parkes Dragon Boat Club (PDBC) turned up with a group of 26 people and a 12 metre dragon boat.

The Parkes paddlers decided to have a casual, fun weekend away, combined with the 50th birthday celebration of one of its members.

The vast expanse of water of this massive inland lake highly impressed the Parkes paddlers as they’re anxiously watching the ever-decreasing water line at their Lake Endeavour training ground every week.

“We had a wonderful time on the lake and our members have all been very impressed by the friendliness of the town as well as the beauty of the lake,” said PDBC President, Bill Thomas.

It was also a good opportunity to expose the paddlers and sweeps to different conditions having to paddle in the presence of motor boats creating waves and turbulence in the water. Having the freedom to paddle on a vast body of water was a luxury all the members enjoyed tremendously.

The club’s registrar, Louise Moore, suggested the venue because of the beautiful large waterway with easy access, and also to support the community of Lake Cargelligo in this time of drought.