Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Doncaster East athlete and hammer thrower Stephanie Ratcliffe, who has been named Manningham Leader's Junior Sports Star for 2019. The 18-year-old has claimed gold medals in the under 18s, under 20s and open age competitions. She has represented Australia at the Oceania Athletics Championships and hopes to represent the nation at the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.

I would also like to congratulate Eltham Lacrosse Club's Keith Nyberg for taking out the senior category of the Diamond Valley Leader's 2019 Local Sports Star Awards. It was a great year which saw Keith captain the Australian men's indoor lacrosse team at the world championships. It was his third time captaining the country and the seventh world championship cap. Keith started playing lacrosse in year 5 at Eltham Primary School and was driven by a goal of winning a gold medal for Australia at a world championship.

The Leader community newspapers in Victoria have done a wonderful job of unearthing and celebrating grassroots talent over the past 40 years, with this year's program gaining nominations from over 66 sports from athletics to wheelchair basketball across both junior and senior competitions. Over the years, the honour roll has included some of the nation's biggest sporting names, including Shane Warne, Lauren Barnes, Brooke Hanson and Matt Welsh.

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