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November 2022
Winner of the Chair’s Award Melissa Rees Official of the Year Greg Langford Greg is a Nunawading Swimming Club Board Member. He helped rebuild the Nunawading Swimming Club Swim Committee post COVID-19 and has consistently shown up to officiate both local and interstate meets. Greg regularly helps out at swimming events. Greg was also instrumental in seeing the recent Nunawading Short Course Swimming Meet achieve its fundraising efforts. He is a genuine leader, admired by many across the community for his contribution to swimming and the Club.
Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Col Pearse Col has been a keen sportsman throughout his life, excelling as a swimmer. He has represented Australia at the Paralympics, World Para Swimming Championships and most recently the Birmingham Commonwealth games. Col’s biggest achievements to date have been:
▪ 2 x Silver Medals at the Para Swimming World Championships (100m Butterfly and 200m IM) in the S10 category ▪ Gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the S10 100m Butterfly Col demonstrates fair play and contributes to the wider sporting community through his zest for life and sport. He brings an infectious enthusiasm to the daily training environment, which is valued by all his teammates.
Louise Godden and Tanneale Marshall
Eastern Gymnastics Club
The club encourages senior gymnasts to give back by running a supportive guided coach development program for coaches from 14 years of age. Secondary Schools from all over Whitehorse attend the Club for PE and health and fitness classes, and gymnastics is taken out to Primary Schools through the sporting schools program.
Melissa has helped build relationships between participants and developed a sense of wellbeing through exercise. The fun weekly program focuses on skill development and a wide range of ages (66-88) and abilities are represented.
Volunteer of the Year – it’s a tie!
Club of the Year
Eastern Gymnastics have achieved great successes this year. Two of their gymnasts were selected for the Victorian Men’s Artistic Gymnastics State team and their coach was selected to coach the team.
Melissa has developed and implemented a fabulous Walking Basketball program through Blackburn Vikings Basketball Club that engages older community members in physical activity. It provides physical exercise, social connectedness and community involvement at a local sporting club. The program has a significant positive impact on participants, particularly on their mental health.
Junior Sportsperson of the Year Amelie Holah In 2022, Amelie has competed in many athletics championships, including Athletics Victoria State Track & Field Championships where she earned herself two gold medals and a bronze medal. She also competed in Athletics Australia Junior Combined Events Championships, where she earned a bronze medal in the Under 18s Heptathlon. Amelie was chosen to represent Victoria in the Athletics Australia Track and Field Championships in Sydney. Amelie is well known around the Box Hill Athletics Track where she regularly trains and competes. She often volunteers at Box Hill Athletic Club events, helping with setup or lap counting. This year, she became a junior volunteer coach, sharing her skills with young athletes aged from 5 to 12 years old.
Louise and Tanneale have been integral in revitalising what was once a struggling junior program at the Blackburn Orioles Baseball Club. They fill the roles of Junior Coordinators, Team Managers, Team Scorers and Canteen Assistants all while being proud parents watching their children play on game days. Before the season began, they worked tirelessly to establish processes to give each junior team every opportunity to succeed. They took it upon themselves to grow the membership base with flyers, advertising and word-ofmouth promotions.
