Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to acknowledge the wonderful achievement of the under 16 far north coast baseball squad, the far north coast Timberjacks. They won the New South Wales country baseball championships recently. It has been a remarkable effort given what the team has been through this year. Their main training venue, the Albert Park baseball complex in Lismore, was completely wiped out and unusable following the disaster we experienced earlier in the year so preparation wasn't ideal. They only played four practice matches between March and October, while the other competing squads in the championship had played a full season. They could only train in cricket nets, on tennis courts and on touch football fields.

When the time came to play in the championships they were just excited to be there. They started well. They won all their games but they got beaten—Deputy Speaker, given you're the member for Newcastle—by Newcastle in the rounds. However, with the percentage and where they finished they faced Newcastle again in the final. They started the final in a great way. They scored 10 home runs in the first innings. They pitched consistently. They completely outplayed Newcastle, going on to win the final 17-nil—sorry, Deputy Speaker, but you got wiped out in that game!

The odds were built on determination and a 'never say die' character, after some of the biggest challenges faced due to the biggest natural disaster in Australia's history that we have suffered as a community. Their wins taught them a lot about rewards for hard work. I want to congratulate the head coach, Clint McCarthy; Paul Boxell; Liam Weeks; and Aurora O'Sullivan on the win—and, again, a big congratulations to all the players.

See this speech in context