Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is indeed an honour to be in this chamber today and say that as the member for Robertson I am incredibly proud of a government that is delivering 600 new Commonwealth jobs to my electorate in Gosford, right in the heart of the Central Coast, that will deliver great benefits to our region.

Today I rise to speak of another benefit to our region, that of national teams increasingly choosing to base themselves on the Central Coast in preparation for major international sporting events. Earlier this year the Socceroos picked the coast as their base to get ready for the World Cup. Just this past week, 16 players from the Opals, the Australian women's basketball team, visited Terrigal to finetune their preparations for upcoming tours of Japan and Europe ahead of the 2014 World Championship for Women in Turkey. With strong local clubs like the Gosford City Rebels, Central Coast Crusaders and Central Coast Waves, there was a great sense of anticipation among our sporting community for the Opals' arrival.

The Opals were welcomed by an incredible champion locally, Liesl Tesch, a six-time Paralympian in the Australian Gliders women's wheelchair basketball team—a legend. Among the highlights of their time on the coast was a holiday clinic with Opals players at Gosford City Basketball and Sports Stadium in Terrigal for 120 rising stars of basketball on the Central Coast. My congratulations go to Chris Ohlback, the general manager of Gosford City Basketball and Sports Stadium, for making the events so memorable for so many young basketballers on the coast who could one day well grow to represent our region in the NBL in Australia or even the bright lights of the NBA in the United States. Many of those at the skills clinic returned to the same court later in the week for a scrimmage game between the Opals and the New South Wales Country Men's Under-20 team. There were five Central Coast-based men in the under-20s line-up and it attracted a crowd of 1,000 fans. The Opals also hosted a sports lunch at Terrigal Surf Life Saving Club, and it was a great privilege to hear from Lauren Jackson and Liz Cambage, two stars of Australian sport who are also wonderful ambassadors for our nation. Lauren, in particular, has got an outstanding record of success at the highest level, including the honour of being the Australian flag bearer at the 2012 London Olympics.

I spoke to the Opals' coach, Brendan Joyce, who told me the Central Coast, and in particular Terrigal, had again proved itself a region capable of catering for elite level sporting teams. He said people of the coast embrace the Opals and the players fed off the energy and the excitement that created in an environment second to none. Brendan said people of the Central Coast should be proud of the integral role that we have played for the Opals' preparation for the World Championships, and he looks forward to making the Central Coast a regular part of the Opals' program for the future. Indeed, we look forward to welcoming the Opals back in the future at any time. They will always be more than welcome and I thank them for their contribution to our local and to our national sporting success.