news I SS U E 4 T H U RS DAY 18 JU LY 2013
BIG HEADINGEUGs - Second 2 None INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Elite Athlete Jack Dempsey UTS EUG Victory cont. A Sporting Chance C2S - A Wave of Teal Hockey Heats Up Winter Warming at MPSH Tennis to New Heights AUS Surfing Champions
Go Aussies Go A Pig Dream Playground
Photo by Chris Lew
SECOND 2 NONE
“We feel excellent, back to back winners, we’re happy,”
WRITTEN BY LAURA JUDD
We were really hopeful to win, we have never played CSU before, so we were really happy with that.”
THE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY, HAS TRIUMPHED AGAIN WINNING THE EASTERN UNIVERSITY GAMES LAST WEEK FOR THE FOURTH YEAR IN A ROW. Totaling seven gold medals, six silver, and three bronze, UTS beat the University of Western Sydney and Macquarie University both with three gold medals. The biggest success of the games for UTS was a double gold in the Futsal competition with both the men and women finishing the week undefeated.
JACK ATTACK UTS SCHOLAR JACK DEMPSEY PLAYS STARING ROLE IN AUSTRALIA’S JUNIOR WORLD CUP PERFORMANCE.E
Australia moved up the ladder to 7th place at the Junior Rugby World Cup this year which was held in France. During the tournament Jack played a pivotal role for Australia at flanker and although his campaign is over he’s looking to put in mighty performances for Gordon in the NSW 1st Grade Rugby tournament. Cont. page 5
In the gold medal match, the women ran rings around their competition defeating the Australian National University 9-0 while in a nail-biting finish the men cost the home-side a victory beating them, the University of Wollongong, 5-4. In another memorable final, the mixed touch team who for many of them lost their first match at the Eastern University games ever this year, held out in a drop off to maintain their dominance on the field beating Sydney neighbours and rivals the University of Sydney, 6-5. Also continuing to prove their powerhouse status at the EUG’s was the men’s basketball side. Against a strong Charles Sturt team and their loud crowd, the UTS men kept calm and played a great game to win 72-57. Captain John Melville said it was a real test and a great win for the team.
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UTS had three sides make the finals on the Thursday in Netball, with both the Mixed 1 and Women’s teams making it to the gold medal match. Both teams went head to head side by side against university netball friends and foes, Macquarie University. The women’s side successfully held out their undefeated position to convincingly beat the women from MQU 57-24, however their undefeated teammates in the mixed side had a much tougher match going down in the last few minutes of the game by only 1 point, 41-40, to get the silver medal. It was the opposite for the AFL 9’s. The UTS men came from second place in their pool to beat Newcastle University 46-33, in a match that co-captains Matthew Scholz and Callum D’souza said was not their best game of the week. “We actually probably played one of our worse games but we’ve got a really talented side so we were very lucky to come through and get it,” Scholz said. “We started pretty slowly but we came good in the last part of the game like we needed to,” D’souza added. Both Captains applauded their team’s efforts all week. Cont. pg 2
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CONT.
“We ran harder than every other person and because we worked harder that’s why we won gold,” Scholz said. In the Tennis, the men’s gold medal match was a UTS affair with two teammates battling it out for the top spot. In a close match Vitaly Faynerman beat Inhwa Song eight games to five. UTS’ Priscilla Soenario went down in the women’s tennis grand final, eight games to two, against the University of Western Sydney’s Tahnee Edgecombe. There were many other UTS medal winners including silver to the Opens Lawn Bowls team, Men’s Oztag, Men’s Volleyball, and a team silver for Men’s Squash. Bronze medals for UTS went to Open Indoor Cricket, Women’s Volleyball, and the Men’s Golf team. Commendable efforts by Men’s Football, Mixed Ultimate Frisbee, Mixed Oztag, Men’s Hockey and Mixed Netball 2 who just missed out on a medal, placing fourth against some tough competition. Mixed Netball 2 Captain Emily Deegan spoke for all the UTS fourth place getters when she said that the end results didn’t reflect on the week her team had. “I am really happy with our overall results, so I think everyone is pretty proud of us,” “We had such a good team this year and we were all so happy, and everyone got along so well and played so well together so I couldn’t be more happy.” Overall, it was a successful week in Wollongong for UTS and a great warm up for Australian University Games being held on the Gold Coast later this year in September. ALL PHOTOS BY CHRIS LEW
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A SPORTING CHANCE WRITTEN BY MIRANDA MIDDLETON
A body in motion can be beautiful to watch: arms swinging in unison, hips twisting to a beat, muscles working hard to push the body to new limits. But that beauty doesn’t have to be confined to a sporting elite, says personal trainer Ben Ly. Manager of the UTS Fitness Centre, Ly’s working life revolves around fitness and exercise and he sees no reason why everyone can’t tap into their own special physical powers. “Everyone’s got superpowers,” Ly says. “They just need to be more aware of what they’ve got and what they can do.” The 30-year-old throws a 10-kilogram medicine ball to 18-year-old Nikolai Olding, who’s balancing on a wobbly rubber hemisphere. Nikolai’s legs shake with the effort but he maintains his balance. “He’s never done this before but look at him –he’s killing it!” says Ly, throwing the ball up high this time to make it harder for Nikolai. “He’s on a good wave today so I’m going to push the boundary and see how far we can go.” The pair have already travelled a long way. Born with mild cerebral palsy, Nikolai couldn’t coordinate his left side with his right, or his upper body with his lower body, when he started working with Ly in October last year. Now he can balance on a rubber ball for five minutes, squat with a 10-kilogram barbell behind his head and jump with both legs onto a box in sets of 10. “Listen to that stomp. Perfect jump,” says Ly as Nikolai lands with feet together. “I get a kick out of things like that. Normal body functionality is so beautiful.”
Photo by Anna Zhu
Nikolai is one of six athletes with a disability who are training with Ly. With a diploma in exercise and physiology, Ly uses individual exercise programs to “pull apart people’s anatomy and fix it”. “The great thing about Nikolai’s workouts is that if I trigger the muscles properly, he doesn’t get spasms,” Ly says. “He’s definitely less shaky than when he first started.” Nikolai agrees there have been huge improvements in his physical capacities. “Especially with my muscles,” he says. “I’m very proud of them. I’ve never had muscles before.” Nikolai’s mother, Irena Olding, is thrilled to see her son proud of himself and enjoying exercise for the first time in his life. “If you ever said the word ‘sport’ he always thought, ‘Well, I can’t walk, I can’t run, I can’t catch a ball. I don’t want to do this’,” she says. Irena encouraged Nikolai to try rowing last year and he showed natural talent. He hopes to represent Australia at the 2016 Paralympics, with the help of Ly and coaches Barbara Ramjan and Anne Craig from Balmain Rowing Club. It’s an ambitious goal and Nikolai admits every workout is hard. He describes Ly as “pushy but encouraging”, a title Ly doesn’t resist. “I’m 100 per cent pushy,” he says. “But I’ve also built up the relationship with Nikolai so that he’s like, ‘Look, Ben’s pushing me today but he knows that I’ll end up better for it tomorrow’.” All of the staff at the UTS Fitness Centre are being trained to work with athletes with disabilities. “We’re not turning these athletes away and saying, ‘Sorry, we don’t have the skill here to do this’,” Ly says. “We’re taking them on and helping them. “I’m not saying that I can cure everybody, because I can’t. But if they’ve got nothing to lose, what have I got to lose?”
A WAVE OF TEAL SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERING 440 TEAM UTS CITY 2 SURF PARTICPANTS TO BONDI BEACH ON 11 AUGUST. 2013’s Team UTS has reached maximum capacity with over 440 registered participants. This is the first time Team UTS has reached the maximum number of athletes and so sadly registrations are now closed. This year Team UTS will be the University’s largest ever registered team to compete in one of the world’s largest fun runs, also boasting its biggest ever registration of student competitors, with 80% of the team being from the UTS student community. The final warm up walk and run is scheduled for Sunday 21st July. The walkers will tackle the Iron Cove to Balmain walk and the runners will take on the Bay Run double loop. Modern, funky and fresh designed apparel will definitely help Team UTS stand out from the massive crowd at the 2013 City to Surf with the Teal army sure to uphold the prestigious University image in an event that celebrates health and fitness.
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A S I A-PAC I F I C
TENNIS LEAGUE
HOCKEY HEATS UP Sydney Uni is about to face the strongest attacking team in the competition, UTS. After winning the Metro League 2 Premiership last year the UTS Women’s first grade hockey team are fired up and determined to succeed. This year’s goal is to once again be crowned champions, take out the Minor Premiership and ultimately be promoted to Metro League 1. This goal is by no means beyond the team that is recorded as the competitions strongest attacking team having scored 10 more goals than any other competitor, resulting in the best goal difference in the competition making them a real force to be reckoned with. Getting into the second half of the season, the weather has provided extra challenges, especially in the most recent game against a strong 5th placed Ryde outfit. Sustained attack and domination of the midfield coupled with the team’s ability to adapt to the wet conditions with more aerial ball play resulted in a comfortable 5-1 win. What could possibly be the biggest game of the season is coming up soon against their archnemesis, the first placed Sydney University at 6:30pm, Friday 12th July on the Olympic Hockey Pitch. The team always loves new supporters so come and show your UTS pride!
TENNIS TO NEW HEIGHTS The UTS City Community Tennis team enters the AsiaPacific Tennis League (ATL) In November, the UTS City Community Tennis Team will be taking to the courts to compete in one of the newest competitions to reach the Southern Hemisphere. The ATL is an initiative driven by Tennis Australia (TA) that aims to increase the level of professionalism of tennis within the Asia-Pacific region by supporting high-performance players. The ATL provides players with the opportunity to play regular paid, high-level matches in a team environment similar to the U.S College and European club system. UTS’S PARTNERSHIP WITH CITY COMMUNITY TENNIS OPENS UP A NUMBER OF DOORS FOR TALENTED UTS PLAYERS, INCLUDING THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENHANCE THEIR TENNIS CAREER. The unique structure of the ATL also enables the wider UTS community to get involved. The wider UTS community will have the opportunity to come and watch competing players, some of which are in the top 400 in the world, as well as support the UTS City Community Tennis team. It is truly a fantastic initiative, and one that UTS has embraced with open arms.
WRITTEN BY YOLANDA THOMAS, UTS HOCKEY’S WOMENS CLUB
WINTER WARMING
Stay warm this winter with social sport.
With semester 1 exams out of the way, the UTS MultiPurpose Sports Hall is alive at lunchtimes kicking off another season of Social Sports with the return of netball, basketball and futsal. There has been a growing interest in Social Sports as it is no doubt the best way to get involved and have fun on campus while meeting new people from all over UTS! Congratulations to all our Autumn winners, it’s always great to see new faces as well as returning teams battle it out for victory. If you’re interested in keeping up to date with the latest in Social Sports, join the group on Facebook. The introduction of the fast-paced Dodgeball and exciting Women’s Futsal sessions saw an untapped pursuit for more social sports on campus. With its successful launch, we’ll be seeing these sports along with a return of wheelchair basketball (to celebrate our 25th year anniversary) in our Spring season of Social Sports. Keep an eye out here for more information!
AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY SURFING CHAMPIONSHIPS WRITTEN BY UTS JOURNALISM STUDENT, LAURA JUDD
UTS continued its winning streaks on and off the water with team “UTS Surfing” winning two individual gold, one team challenge gold, one bronze and a Pennant for men’s overall champions, a first for Team UTS. In the women’s shortboard event Emily Clapoudis won gold for UTS and was joined by fellow UTS surfer and gold medallist Tyler Barnes for men’s longboard and Anna Clark who won bronze for UTS in the women’s bodyboard contest. The success of the UTS surfing team in each event saw them take out gold in the team’s challenge and a pennant for the men who were crowned overall champions. The women were not far behind, coming in second in the overall tally just beaten by interstate competitors Monash University.
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JACK ATTACK
CONT.
UTS Elite Athlete Jack Dempsy started playing Rugby Union when he was 10 years old. In the u16’s in 2010 he represented NSW (as Vice Captain) in the National Championships. THe following year in 2011 he represented the NSW 2nds and Opens in the National Championships. As 2012 rolled round Jack upped the anty and achieved the following:
RUNNING THROUGH A PIGS DREAM PLAYGROND
- SELECTED RIVERVIEW COLLEGE 1ST XV (NO.6) (3RD YEAR) - SELECTED GPS 1ST XV (NO.6)
UTS represented at the Cross Country Relay Championships
- SELECTED IN THE AUSTRALIAN UNDER 18’S 7’S TEAM - SELECTED NSW SCHOOLBOYS 1ST XV (NO.6)– CHAMPIONS OF THE ARU NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2012
Jacks sporting career reached an all-time high, being selected to represent in the NSW’s 1st’s, winning the 2012 National Championships and being selected in the Australian School boys of 2012 that were undefeated in the Australia, Fiji and New Zealand tour in all test matches. From the footy field to the athletics field there is no doubt this Bachelor of Property Economics student is multi talented. In 2012 Jack was selected in Riverview GPS Track and Field team for the Opens Championship shot put to defend title which he won 2nd straight year.
Early June saw the NSW Cross Country Championships roll around again. They are a heavily contested 4x4km race covering all age groups from juniors – opens – masters. The race course was down in Miranda and is a tough 2km loop with sharp turns, long steep hills, and plenty of mud! UTS Northern Suburbs has fielded teams for a number of years in this competition but 2013 saw them enter some of their strongest Opens teams yet. Most of these teams were made up of current UTS students or Alumni, showcasing the strong partnership the club has had with the University and its’ students. The coveted Opens championships were held late in the day and with heavy rainfall all week the ground resembled a pig’s dream playground. Many shoes were lost, and uniforms turned into a single unified brown - but it’s cross country so what can you expect. The girls ran first and set a high standard for the boys to follow finishing 3rd overall. The boys were left to the last race and all eyes were on the battle to be had between USYD, UTS, ASICs West, and Illawarra. Unfortunately while the boys ran brilliantly they just missed out on the podium coming in 4th. Female
Male
Male
Charlotte Wilson (UTS Student)
Dylan Dudley
Alex Godbold (UTS Student)
Brittany Pembroke (UTS Student)
Fraser Dowling
Nick Walker (UTS Student)
Abigail Reegan (UTS Student)
James O’Connor
Jak Bukovinsky
Lucy Starrat (UTS Alumni)
Kieran Roache (UTS Student)
Gareth Mumby
GO AUSSIES GO! Australia wins the Tertiary Rugby League World Cup! UTS students Matt Waugh and Dave Sheehan have been competing in the UK, taking down hosts England in the grand final 26-16. EAP scholar Matt scored two tries in the final and was named Man of the Match.
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