Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the young athletes in my electorate of Forde who have recently received the Local Sporting Champions grant. The grant program is about helping young people pursue their sporting dreams, which can often be difficult when there are significant costs involved with attending competitions.

On Friday I had the pleasure of presenting certificates to some of our outstanding athletes who were successful in their grant applications, including Robert Fisher, who will be competing in the Australian Surf Life Saving titles in 2016; Tahlia-Ann Stewart, who is competing in the BMX state titles; Jeremiah Ieremia, who is competing in the National Rugby League carnival; Kayla Hanoc, for the Under 19 Women state softball; and Alexander Reeves, who is competing in the Rowing Queensland state championships. It was great to be able to talk to these young athletes about their wonderful achievements and their love of sport. I would also like to congratulate other Forde Local Sporting Champions grant recipients: Jade Willis, Joshua Moreland and Kate Gaudin for the Pacific School Games soccer; Layton Reid for Pacific School Games softball; Kyla McNaughton for the Inline Hockey National Championships; Kye Sutherland and Dillon Lewis for the Under 14 State Academy Championships for Australian Football; and Matilda Alexandersson for the Australian junior table tennis titles. I wish them every success in their future sporting endeavours.

See this speech in context