Fiona Scott (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On Friday we saw a wonderful event take place at Panthers—the Penrith Valley Sports Foundation annual night of nights, where we as a community got to acknowledge some of the best and brightest sports stars, administrators and rising stars across our community. I would like to thank Terry McCallum and the Penrith Valley Sports Foundation for the work that they did and for acknowledging some of our really wonderful local identities.

The Sports Administration Award went to Les Knox. Les has been an administrator of the Leonay Golf Club for over 30 years. The Multidisability Award went to Courtney Cook. Courtney has played tennis for many years. She is 15 years old, has been diagnosed with autism and competes in the able-bodied section—and competes well above her age. The Volunteer Award went to Craig Lonard. Craig has been a member of the Cranebrook Little Athletics Centre for 13 years and has served on the executive and the general committee. The Coach Award went to Shane Summersford. Shane took the first-grade baseball team from fourth position to claim Penrith Baseball Club's first premiership in the New South Wales State Baseball League. The referee award went to John Rohloff. John was appointed to the FINA Open Water Referee list for 2015 to 2019. He was awarded one of only two Australian Sports Commission Officiating Scholarships.

The Jim Anderson Memorial Award went to Warren Smith. Warren Smith is known to many local people and, for many years—in fact, 30 years—has served as chairman of the St Marys Rugby League Club. He has been heavily involved in youth development and helping many young people right across our community. This season, St Marys Rugby League has fielded 45 teams in the Penrith Championship, which is a phenomenal effort.

The Junior Sports Star Award went to Joshua McLachlan. Joshua McLachlan is a member of Werrington Little Athletics. He also plays rugby league and was selected for the Penrith development squad. The Rising Star Award went to Shane Munaweera, a very talented runner, long jumper and discus and hammer thrower. He was chosen to represent New South Wales at the Australian Little Athletics Championships in Melbourne. The Senior Sports Star Award went to Shelley Watts. Shelley won a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games Women's Light—57 to 60 kilogram—category in Glasgow in 2014. The    Team of the Year Award went to Penrith Baseball Club.

These are some wonderful awards and some wonderful stars who are going to be doing some fabulous work well into the future. I would like to congratulate all of the winners and thank the Penrith Valley Sports Foundation for continuing to support our local sports stars.

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