SPORT

The high-speed thrills and spills of billy cart fun

THERE were plenty of thrills and spills on the Claremont College track on 27 November, when hundreds of people enjoyed all the action of the Rotary Club of Claremont's second annual Billy Cart Derby.

Families came out in force to enjoy a highspeed day of fun, with more than 350 people turning up to watch and compete as the Billy Cart Derby continued to build on the success of the inaugural event in 2021.

Entries flooded in from racers of all ages keen to test their homemade vehicles on the track, with great prizes up for grabs across the race categories.

Police were onhand to recording the competitors’ speed on the course, while the Claremont Fire Brigade made a grand entrance with sirens blaring.

The Claremont Men's Shed supplied four billy carts for young racers to borrow, and there was plenty to do off the track including face painting, train rides, barbecues, coffee vans and cupcake stalls, a book sale and a chocolate wheel.

Entry was free for spectators, with funds raised to be put back into the local community.

The Hobart, Sandy Bay and Launceston West Rotary Clubs also used the event to showcase some of the projects Rotary is involved in both locally and globally, including Polio Plus (eradicating polio worldwide), Water Bores in Tanzania (providing communities with fresh water), Food Plant Solutions (focusing on malnutrition and food security in foreign countries), and a project supporting Tasmanian women living with gynecological cancers.

Organisers thanked the many sponsors and volunteers who helped make the day such a success, and are already planning to make the next Billy Cart Derby even bigger and better.

Some of the competitors and spectators at the recent Billy Cart Derby. Photo credits: RJ Visuals

Liberal Member for Clark Madeleine Ogilvie (front, fourth from left) and NFSRA president Steven King (back left) with pickleball players at the Moonah Indoor Sports Centre Premier’s Fund gets players out of a pickle

LOCAL participants in one of Tasmania’s fastest growing sports now have the potential to take part in a state-wide competition thanks to funding from the State Government.

The Moonah Indoor Sports Centre received a $6,745 grant from the Premier’s Discretionary Fund which it will put towards the cost of installing new pickleball court line markings.

A mix of table tennis, badminton and tennis, pickleball is one of the world’s fast-growing sports and is popular with all age ranges and abilities.

Liberal Member for Clark Madeleine Ogilvie was pleased to hand over the cheque to National Fitness Southern Recreation Association (NFSRA) president Steven King last month.

“The Moonah Indoor Sports Centre is one of Clark’s exciting hubs of activity and caters for around 6,000 people per week who participate in community sports activities,” Minister Ogilvie said.

“The Tasmanian Liberal Government understands the importance of being active and therefore increasing the health and well-being of the community.”

Mr King said the NFSRA is the not-forprofit facilitator of the Moonah and Clarence Sports Centres, supporting many grass root sporting associations for more than 64 years.

“The growth and need for indoor sport facilities is at an all-time high,” he said.

“Funding from the State Government for line marking will allow for pickleball to be played on all three courts in the Moonah stadium thus allowing for a state-wide competition to be played at both our Moonah and Clarence centres.”

DYLAN’S DREAM

Blind Cricket Tasmania player Dylan Gangell will represent the state at next month’s National Cricket Inclusion Championships in Brisbane

Mackenzie Archer

CRICKET fanatic Dylan Gangell will represent Tasmania at the National Cricket Inclusion Championships in Brisbane next month, two years after losing 90 per cent of his vision.

Eighteen-year-old Dylan will be one of seven Tasmanians to represent the state for the first time at the annual championships.

“I have been playing cricket since I was a kid and when I unexpectedly lost my vision at 16 I thought I would never be able to play again,” he said.

“Having the opportunity to represent Tasmania in a sport I love really is a dream come true.”

In blind cricket, the standard cricket ball is replaced by a larger ball filled with ball bearings to provide audible cues. Bowlers also use verbal signals including shouting “play!” before releasing the ball.

The stumps are also larger, with metal tubes painted in fluorescent colours to allow partially sighted players to see them and blind players to touch them in order to correctly orient themselves when batting or bowling.

Tasmania will combine with Canberra to field a team at the National Cricket Inclusion Championships, featuring four players who are totally blind (B1), three players who are partially blind (B2), and four players who are partially sighted (B3).

Blind Cricket Tasmania (BCT) captain David Hughes said he feels honoured to lead the state team at the championships.

“I have always had a deep love of cricket and always enjoyed playing until my eye condition deteriorated,” he said.

“I made enquiries about whether blind cricket was being played in Tasmania in following years without luck and it saddened me that I may never participate again.

“The BCT initiative led by Inclusive Innovations Tasmania (IIT) to bring this dream alive has certainly revitalised me and I embrace the chance of playing again and representing my state.

“I am hoping that as this great concept grows and more young people who may have felt that a sporting dream they held may not be fulfilled can come to fruition.”

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