Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It certainly has been a busy few weeks for sporting clubs in my electorate of Boothby as many celebrate the end of their winter season and many start their summer season. Last month, I was delighted to attend the Sturt Lions Football Club MiniRoos presentation morning with my state colleague Steve Murray MP. The players, aged between six and 11 years, were presented with trophies to celebrate a successful season, and they farewelled the players moving into the junior division next season. It was wonderful to be able to personally thank the club president, John Vander Veeken, and all of the parents, volunteers and supporters for encouraging this very enthusiastic group of young players.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the very real and pressing need to provide the Sturt Lions Football Club with facilities to support their very large number of young athletes, particularly with the significant growth in participation that the club has seen over the past few years. I will be working very hard with my state colleagues Sam Duluk MP and Steve Murray MP to ensure that the Sturt Lions have the facilities that they require to support their continued growth and success.

Another fantastic football club in my community, the Cumberland United Women's Football Club, also celebrated a very successful season at their recent presentation dinner. It was a wonderful evening with the club's president John Hood, the fabulous Patrick Weatherill, the committee, players and families. Special congratulations to Sian and Ben Williams on a great event with some of the most amazing decorations that I've seen, and congratulations to Sam Jones for being awarded Volunteer of the Year. As one of the first women-only soccer clubs in South Australia, Cumberland is leading the way in fostering female participation in the game and is providing a strong development path for young girls wanting to play soccer. I'm delighted the South Australian Marshall Liberal government will deliver the funding committed to upgrade the Women's Memorial Playing Fields, which are home to the Cumberland United Women's Football Club, so that they finally have the sporting facilities that they need and deserve.

In 2019 the Brighton Bowling Club will celebrate their centennial year. They started their celebrations with a wonderful season-opening dinner which I attended with my state colleague Corey Wingard MP, who is also the minister for sport. It's quite a remarkable achievement and a credit to the club to have reached this milestone. Special thanks to President Darrell Fishpool; Secretary John Kirby, who was recently appointed a life member of the club; Treasurer Linda Kirby; and all of the members of the committee for inviting us along to their opening night. I'm confident that the 2018-19 season will be as successful as the past 99 seasons, and I look forward to recognising this milestone and celebrating with the club over coming months.

Mr Deputy Speaker Georganas, as you would appreciate, Brighton is also home to the wonderful Brighton and Seacliff Yacht Club. Over the past few years, I have been fortunate to attend the club's season-opening, and once again this year it attracted a huge crowd. It is always a pleasure to catch up with Commodore Robert Turton, his committee and all the members who are in attendance. Earlier this week I spoke about the incredible and very talented young sailors who are members of the club but also students at Westminster who recently won the Interdominion championship in New Zealand.

Not far away, the Brighton Tennis Club also celebrated the start of the 2018-19 season. Their season-opening was the 115th in a row, which I think you would agree is a remarkable achievement for any club. The occasion also provided an opportunity to celebrate some individual membership milestones, including 25, 30, 40 and 50-plus years of continuous membership. Particular congratulations to Geoffrey Trowbridge, who celebrated over 60 years of continuous membership at the Brighton Tennis Club. It's an outstanding achievement, and I'm sure that Geoff will be well rewarded with another spectacular season this year. Special thanks to President Rob Hill and all of the club members who were in attendance at the season-opening.

Finally, Mr Deputy Speaker—and you will really appreciate this one—it was an absolute pleasure to attend the season-opening of the Somerton Yacht Club to toast the start of their sailing season. I joined Commodore Jacqui Cole, committee and club members as well as representatives from the City of Holdfast Bay—the Acting Mayor, Amanda Wilson, and Councillors Karen Donaldson and Mikki Bouchee—for the christening of several new boats and to hear about the exciting season ahead. We just hope that they have more wind than they did on the season-opening. It was a very still day, so there was more paddling than sailing done.

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