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Veteran cricketers Kelvyn Anderson, Patrick Henry and Spencer Woolley, pictured at Lindisfarne Oval, are looking to sign up some new teammates

Call out for cricket veterans keen to pad up for Tassie

IF you’re over 60 but still keen to bat or bowl, Veterans Cricket Tasmania wants to hear from you.

The organisation is seeking cricketers to join its squads for the upcoming Over 60s and Over 70s National Carnivals.

Over 60s coordinator and Veterans Cricket Tasmania treasurer Spencer Woolley, who has been playing veterans cricket for the past 17 seasons, said the sport has social, mental and physical benefits for participants.

“We often talk about it as being ‘a men’s shed on a cricket pitch’,” he said.

“There’s certainly a pretty significant mental health element to it.

“It’s mates, basically, enjoying something that they’ve enjoyed throughout their life in most cases.

“It’s an opportunity to continue doing something they enjoy, while they still can.

“And you get a bit of exercise as well.”

The Tasmanian Over 70s teams will play against other Australian states in Launceston from 10-15 November; before the Over 60s travel to Geelong to play four matches over five days between 26 November and 1 December.

More than 40 teams from across the country will compete across five divisions.

Tasmania is aiming to field teams in divisions 1, 3 and 5, but needs some more players in order to do so.

“We’re inviting players of all abilities to nominate for our teams,” Mr Woolley said

“Whilst there are still plenty of ‘veterans’ playing in regular competitions, we also encourage those who have been out of the game for a while to give it a go!

“The division 1 teams have still got some bloody good cricketers playing.

“It’s not uncommon for former state representatives to be involved, and in the past there has even been two or three former Australian Test cricketers like Graham Yallop and Geoff Dymock who have played in these carnivals.

“So the standard can be very good.”

While the big mainland states like Victoria and New South Wales have hundreds or even thousands of players to pick from, Mr Woolley estimates that there is currently about 150 veteran cricketers playing in Tasmania.

Veterans Cricket Tasmania is always looking for new players to join the local summer roster, which starts in October.

“There’s four of five teams from across the state who play fortnightly,” Mr Woolley said.

“Then there’s another half-dozen who might play three or four games a year.

“And there’s a couple of teams like the University Legends, who play one game a year.

“It’s a social but serious roster. We don’t have finals or anything like that, but we do play for small sheep stations.”

Anyone keen to play in either the National Carnivals or the local roster can contact Mr Woolley on 0409254812 (Over 60s) or Rod Headlam on 0439256378 (Over 70s).

For more information, go to vets.tas.cricket. com.au

Tasmania strikes gold at the Masters Swimming National Championships

A TEAM of Tasmanian swimmers have returned home with 13 gold medals and multiple broken records from this year’s Masters Swimming Australia National Championships.

In April, five swimmers from Hobart and Launceston aged between 29 and 72 travelled to Sydney to compete against the best masters swimmers from across the country.

While Tasmania fielded a relatively small team compared to some mainland states, each swimmer punched well above their weight when it came to results.

“Our swimmers demonstrated excellent skills and fitness and came home with an outstanding haul of 13 gold, seven silver, and five bronze medals as well as three national records and 18 Tasmanian Branch records,” Masters Swimming Tasmania president Megan Stronach said.

“This is testament to the swimmers’ commitment to training over the past challenging two years.”

For first-time attendee Elisa McMillan, the highlights were her swims in the butterfly events. “It was great racing many different people in my age group and seeing how I compare with times,” she said.

“The atmosphere was incredible, especially during the relay events.

“All the masters swimming teams were very supportive of one another and of swimmers from other states.”

Veteran competitor Maciej Slugocki is celebrating some significant wins, taking home three new national records and five gold medals from the championships.

“You race the way you train and if you train hard, have the right preparation and nutrition, then you can set yourself up to achieve,” he said.

Tasmania is set to host the National Championships next year and many local swimmers are already starting to prepare.

“I would love to see as many people as possible competing, having fun and achieving their goals,” Elisa said.

Masters Swimming Tasmania has a range of clubs for all levels of fitness, experience and ability. To find a club near you, visit mastersswimming tasmania.com.au

Marvin Freeman in action at URBNSURF

L-R U16 Girls finalists Jess Gardner, Hayden Brown, Sienna Lawrence and Poppy Woodberry

Local groms make urban waves

SEVERAL young Eastern Shore surfers have rubbed shoulders with some of the world’s best during a recent trip to Melbourne.

Members of the Surfing Tasmania Junior Development Squad and their coaches flew to Melbourne last month to spend a day at the URBNSURF wave pool at Tullamarine, which creates repetitive, identical waves unlike the normal ocean surf environment - making it the perfect training facility.

Under the watchful eye of former national coach Martin Dunn, the Tassie squad was put through a number of drills designed to hone their skills in different areas, including their advanced turns and barrel-riding.

The one-hour sessions featured constant sets of 12 waves, with the 15 junior squad members catching 10 or more identical waves in each session.

A highlight for the day for the squad members was a chance meeting with Brazilian surf stars including current world number one Felipe Toledo and former world champion Adriano de Sousa.

The Brazilian stars arrived at the facility late in the afternoon for a practice session before competing in the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach event, giving the Tasmanian youngsters the chance to watch some of the world’s best surfers in action.

Surfing Tasmania is planning another group trip to Urbnsurf later this year.

Meanwhile, the Rip Curl East Coast Junior Classic – the fourth and final round of the 2021/22 Woolworths State Junior Title Series – was held in sunny and glassy conditions at Dark Hollow Beach on Saturday 7 May.

Marvin Freeman showed off his skills, taking out the U14 Boys and finishing second in the U16 Boys behind Dodges Ferry’s Cowan Duncan.

Duncan backed it up with a fourth place in the U18 Boys, behind Clifton Beach’s Toby Lawrence, Margate newcomer Tom Teimens and Joe Pugh.

Bruny Island’s Ruby Stokely found some great waves to take out the U18 Girls ahead of Sienna Lawrence and Poppy Woodberry of Clifton Beach. Woodberry also won the U16 Girls, with Jess Gardener taking out the U14 Girls.

Season kicks off for plucky Roosters

THE Eastern Suburbs Rugby Union Football Club’s first round of women’s seniors games were played recently at the team’s home ground, North Warrane Oval.

Veteran Roosters Kristi Leitch and Katie Wright were determined to lead by example and demonstrated true Rooster spirit to the side’s newcomers as they took the field against Launceston and Devonport.

With no substitute players and no chance to take a breather, the Roosters held their own with the team’s two newest recruits, Chani Kells and Aeriel Kiker, showing no fear in tackles and rucks.

Second-season player Sarah Double showed how much she learned last year, coming out firing on all cylinders before an ankle injury forced her to leave the field early. Chani Kells later followed her to the bench with a calf injury.

Ally McCarthy made a great burst forward and brushed aside the opposition to score the first try for the season, with Leitch also coming very close to scoring.

In true Tasmanian rugby spirit, all teams supported each other when necessary to ensure games could be played. Ally McCarthy even filled in for some other teams, despite a thigh injury.

For the Roosters’ final game, the team’s reserve forces - Winona 'Chicken' Harvey and daughter Raya - donned jerseys and were keen to get on the field, but sadly the opposition was forced to withdraw because of their own injury list.

Rugby is not as popular in Tasmania as other football codes, yet despite the recruitment challenges this brings the Tasmanian Women’s Seniors league has had a promising start to the season.

Easts always welcomes new players. Please contact Kristi Leitch on 0415 481 381 if you would like to know more.

The young Tasmanian surfers meet world number one Felipe Toledo in Melbourne

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BRONZE FOR JUMPING JORDAN

Eastern Shore basketballer Jordan Peel with his bronze medal from the Under 18 National Championships

RISING Eastern Shore basketball star Jordan Peel has set his sights on higher honours after returning with a bronze medal from last month’s Under 18 National Championships in Ballarat.

Jordan has played with the Dominoes Basketball Club for almost a decade and has been part of the Basketball Tasmania Future and State Development Programs since he was in Under 12s.

He always dreamed of playing for Tasmania, and made the most of it when he finally got the opportunity last month.

The 16-year-old, 187cm shooting guard delivered his best performance in the tournament’s opening game against WA Country on April 10, contributing 11 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks.

“It was a great experience, I loved it,” Jordan said.

“It was good to test myself against some of the best players in the country, which I haven’t been able to do before because of Covid.

“I was happy with how I went. It was about knowing your role and playing a team game, and we all contributed and gelled together perfectly.”

While the Tasmanian team came away from the event with a bronze medal, the result could easily have been even better.

The side went through its preliminary games undefeated, before facing Queensland South in the semi-final for a spot in the gold medal game.

The thrilling match was tied at the end of regulation, only for the Tassie team to suffer a heartbreaking two-point loss in overtime.

Queensland South went on to defeat Victoria in the final and win the gold medal.

“It was a tough shot to go down to, and we thought we would have matched up pretty well against Victoria if we had made it,” Jordan said.

“But then we thought we owed it to ourselves and to Tasmania to go out and win the bronze medal.”

Jordan is now training with the Hobart Chargers, and hopes to eventually play in the national NBL1 competition.

But he’s also making his mark off the court, refereeing matches and coaching an Under 14 boys team.

“I love giving back to the basketball community,” he said.

“It’s good to help develop the next generation of kids, and I love seeing their passion for the game.”

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