Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to acknowledge the talented young individuals in my electorate who represent Darwin and Palmerston in sporting competitions all over the Territory, Australia and the world.

In the recent round of the Solomon Local Sporting Champions grants, 19 passionate young sports men and women will receive $500 each to go towards travel costs when they travel away from home for their sporting competitions.

The feedback I get from their parents is that these grants, however small they may seem, are a great help in alleviating some of the pressures experienced by Territory families in meeting the ongoing costs associated with participating in sporting competitions that require our young Territorians to travel away from home.

My committee and I had extreme difficulty in choosing 19 recipients out of more than 60 athletes and officials who applied for these grants. I would like to thank my committee, who gave up their time to assist me in selecting the recipients. Thanks to Jarred Illett, Territory Thunder CEO; Lia Finocchiaro, Drysdale MLA; and senior police officer Sean Parnell.

We agreed that all applicants were deserving of our support, given the level of competition they had reached in their chosen sport. However, we could only choose 19 Solomon Local Sporting Champions in this round. Thirteen-year-old James Holland was selected for the Tenpin Bowling Australia junior championships, in New South Wales. Fourteen-year-old Tyler Spry was selected for the hockey Under-15 National Championships, to be held in WA. Thirteen-year-old Emma Perry was selected for the Australian calisthenics championships, to be held in Melbourne.

Fifteen-year-old Chelsea Hambour was selected in the netball under-17 Australian championship to be held in Victoria. Fourteen-year-old Ryan York-Morris competed in the BMX World Championships in the Netherlands. Sixteen-year-old Hamish Wiltshire was selected for the sailing Youth World Championships in Japan. Sixteen-year-old Eli Taulelei was selected for the Rugby Union Australian schoolboys tournament in New South Wales. Twelve-year-old Mitchell Snodgrass was selected in the NTAFL school team to be playing in Sydney. Fouteen-year-old Jai O'Shaughnessy was selected in the under-16 boys basketball national championships to be held in Geelong. Sixteen-year-old Risa Watanabe was selected in the Australian Interschool Equestrian Championship to be held in Werribee. Fifteen-year-old Jayde Freeman also competed in the BMX World Championships that were held in the Netherlands.

Kieran Mu, 11, was selected in the under-12 school AFL championships in Sydney. Twelve-year-old Jordie Carroll was selected in the Australia football championships to be held in Bendigo. Seventeen-year-old Skye Manley was an official in the Australian junior roller-derby carnival in Adelaide. Thirteen-year-old Alexander Miller competed in the NT BMX championships in Alice Springs. Fifteen-year-old Matteo Rowse was selected in the Australian under-16 Junior basketball championships to be held in Geelong. Twelve-year-old Cameron Hyde competed in the NT BMX championships in Alice Springs. Thirteen-year-old squash player Ryan Blenkinship was selected in the Australian squash Junior Championships to be held in Perth. Twelve-year-old Ellis Kruger was selected in the tennis Rod Laver championships to be held in Brisbane.

Congratulations to all of these talented sports stars. I encourage unsuccessful applicants to reapply for the grants in the future. It is always inspiring to learn of the talented local sports people we have in the Territory. It is also a great opportunity to promote those sports that are not always in the spotlight. From calisthenics to roller derby, it is great to hear about our lesser-known but equally important sports. I look forward to hearing how the recipients go at their upcoming competitions. I know that they will do well. I am looking forward to them representing the Territory and making us proud. I look forward to meeting them all at our afternoon tea in the coming weeks, so that they can share stories of their experiences. I look forward to meeting Abbey Holmes, another fantastic Australian sports star, who is going to be hosting the afternoon tea for me.