Young sports stars of South Burnett excelling in the field
From athletics to cricket, these are the young sports stars breaking records and inspiring the South Burnett community with their talent.
South Burnett
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The South Burnett region is home to many young quiet achievers who are climbing the ladder of their chosen sport.
Coaches, teachers, friends and family members have nominated these young athletes for the chance to be featured.
Joshua Williams: soccer, cricket and middle distance running.
Joshua, 11, began playing cricket for Murgon when he was six.
For the last two years he has captained the under 12s South Burnett cricket team and played representative cricket for Wide Bay.
He has also competed in the QJC Championships and Queensland School Sport State Championships and will be participating next month in Rockhampton.
Joshua’s mother Lorna Williams said her son hopes to be selected for the Queensland team to compete in nationals.
Last season he was awarded trophies for best bowling, batting and fielding at the Wide Bay Championship.
He won the Wide Bay cross country last year and went to the QLD championships in Ipswich in 2021.
Joshua plays soccer for Barambah Under 12s and 13s which won the premiership last month.
Mrs Williams said Joshua is a humble kid who handles his successes and his failures with grace.
“I’m so proud of all his achievements, but even more proud of the beautiful young man that he is becoming,” she said.
Joshua said he loves playing for different teams because he gets to meet players from all over.
“I just enjoy being on the field and playing with my mates. I would love to play for Australia one day,” he said.
Abby Burrows: touch football and cricket
Abby Burrows, 16, has played touch football since she was 7.
She plays for the Kingaroy Touch Football Association and the Kingaroy State High School Opens Touch Football team, who are competing in the All Schools Touch Football Tournament later this month.
She started playing cricket at 13 after watching her brother Lochlan enjoy the sport.
She plays for Nanango and Queensland Premier Cricket Women‘s Second Grade for the Sunshine Coast Scorchers.
She played in the Brisbane Premier Cricket League, an amateur T20 tournament, where players are drafted.
Abby’s mother Helen Burrows said cricket has given Abby amazing opportunities.
“She has grown so much as a young person, the opportunities to play representative cricket, plus to be coached by top level coaches has seen Abby grow her skills on and off the field,” she said.
Abby played an integral role in securing the state championships for her Wide Bay team.
Blake Jacobson: AFL
Blake started playing AFL at 5 years old in the Under 8s for the Dalby Swans until he turned 15.
He now plays for the South Burnett Saints.
Blake has played representative AFL for the Darling Downs Demons as a junior, he also plays rugby union for the Dalby Wheatman.
Blake’s mother Sandy Bank said his greatest sport achievement was playing at the State AFL Championships in 2019.
“Playing with the senior men on the field and being ‘one of the boys’ and winning the Gary Ruoso Memorial Development Award at Presentation Night has been his biggest highlight,” she said.
“He started playing sport because he was such an active child and natural athlete he needed something to burn off his energy.”
Jacob Gould: AFL
Jacob, 18, started playing AFL as a junior in Broome, Western Australia.
South Burnett Saints coach Sandy Banks said Jacob is a natural athlete.
“He has excelled at all sports,” she said.
Jacob is also a keen volleyball player and has been awarded the Ben Brooks Best First Year Player.
Joe Carey: cricket
In 2015 Joe began playing Milo cricket and really enjoyed the game, he also has played rugby league and basketball.
At the age of 12 he is focused on becoming the next Pat Cummins or Marnus Labuschagne when he is older.
Joe’s mother Marissa Carey said cricket is a fantastic sport that challenges the kids.
“It has been great meeting new families locally and from other regions that have always supported Joe,” she said.
He recently competed in the Brisbane Premier League for the Coastal Marlins and he is waiting to compete in the Wide Bay cricket under 12s competition later this month.
Charlotte Love: cricket
Charlotte began her cricket journey in 2017, she is now 14 and is in the KJCA Master Blaster program.
She progressed to being selected for the under 12s school girls team and continued to be selected for the Wide Bay under 12s State Championship.
Charlotte’s mother Jodie Love said Charlotte has a real love for cricket.
“Many of her teammates from previous teams are still her close friends today,” she said.
Charlotte is currently playing for the Wooroolin Warriors in the local B grade competition where she travels to the Sunshine Coast to play.
Charlotte Hams: netball, volleyball, athletics and swimming
Charlotte is 17 and a quadruple threat when it comes to sport.
Her passion is netball and she has competed at a high level for many years, however she has broken the record for butterfly at Kingaroy High and plays netball and volleyball at school.
She was selected to trial for Wide Bay athletics and is a Senior Schools Volleyball Cup team member.
She is a member of Darling Downs Panthers under 19s playing in the Elite Premier League Competition.
Charlotte plays social netball at the Kingaroy Netball mixed competitions.
Stevee Stead: touch football and athletics
Stevee, 18, fell in love with touch football when she was 11 and has represented Ipswich, Noosa, Childers and has made the Sunshine Coast Pineapples team several times.
Stevee’s mother Noleta Grundy said Stevee made the Brisbane State Championships for athletics in October.
Stevee is also an excellent sprinter in 100m, 200m and 400m.
Josh Freeman: AFL, basketball, athletics, football and mixed netball
Josh, 16, is a jack of all trades on fields, courts and pitches.
Josh made numerous Wide Bay teams in touch football, basketball, athletics and AFL.
Josh’s mother Aimee Freeman said he played for the Sunshine Coast Pineapples at the National Youth Football Championships.
“He loves team sport, especially AFL,” she said.
He has played for South Burnett Saints and was awarded the best under 18 player award in the Darling Downs competition.
Lachlan Zelinski: touch football and rugby
Lachlan is 18 and has spent his first year out of school as an apprentice electrician who is also keen on sports.
In 2022 he was awarded an Australian of the Year award from South Burnett Regional Council being named Junior Sportsperson of the Year.
He has played in the Queensland Mal Meninga Cup for Wide Bay and has represented the South Burnett under 18 team in their Bundaberg competition this year.
He was named the South Burnett Eagle of the Year and was awarded most valuable player.
Nathan Roderick: golf, rugby, athletics, cricket, squash and touch football
Nathan, 16, was awarded Murgon State High School’s Sportsman of the Year in 2022, he is an all rounder of six sports and excels in all of his games.
For touch football he represented Wide Bay and competed in the Open Boys State School Competition at Townsville in June 2022 and at the All School Touch Carnival under 18s Boys Team where he won the players player award.
He represented Wide Bay and competed in State School Open Boys competition for Squash and played in the Brisbane Premier League under 17s for cricket.
Nathan played in the Queensland Cricket State Championships in 2022 and is the captain of the Wide Bay team.
He is the under 16s champion for cross country and is the Murgon State High School rugby league captain.
Taine Strong: cross country, basketball and athletics
Taine, 11, was awarded the Athletics Age Champion this year in his division.
He plays for the South Burnett under 12s basketball team and attended the Wide Bay trials in March.
He has excelled in cross country as the South Burnett under 11s champion for the 800m sprint and was the 1500m Wide Bay representative for cross country where he attended the State Championships in July.
Taine has set a state level personal best time for his running.
This term he is playing under 15s basketball for St Mary’s and is the team’s highest point scorer.
Taine’s mother Leah Kenny said as well as his age champion awards at school almost every year since prep, last year, he also was awarded junior sportsman of the year. .
“He attends Little Athletics, and won the gold medal in his age for 1500m event a few weeks ago at The Coles Spring Carnival,” she said.
Bella Barrett
Bella Barrett, 14, is a Wakka Wakka Kabi Kabi descendant who was recently awarded Murgon State High School‘s Sportswoman of the Year.
She loves playing all sports but specialises in track and field.
Bella recently competed at the Brisbane State Championships for her age group.
Her mother Kimberly Barrett said she admires Cathy Freeman.
“She wants to be like her and make the 2032 Olympics,” she said.
Rory Crumpton: rugby league, triathlons and touch football
Rory Crumpton is a 15 year old rugby league player with a decade of experience.
He has represented the Kingaroy Red Ants, South Burnett Rugby League and Kingaroy State High School.
His under 15 South Burnett team made the Toowoomba grand final in 2022.
He regularly plays touch football on the Sunshine Coast and in his local area of Kingaroy.
For the last four years Rory has competed in triathlons for Wide Bay.
Rory’s mother Lesley Crumpton said he regularly swims, participates in park runs and cycles.
“He generally loves all sports,” she said.
Abbie Laherty: cross country
Abbie, 14, recently won the 3km race in the School Sport Australia National Cross Country competition for her age group, she took home the team gold medal for this achievement.
Her team placed second for the relay race.
On Sunday she competed in the Brisbane track and field championships and placed first in the 800m and third in the 100m and 200m.
Joe Meikle: rugby league
Joe, 17, is a widely recognised rugby league player, he is the under 17s captain of the South Burnett Eagles and the Wide Bay rugby league open school captain.
At the South Burnett open schoolboys rugby league grand final he was named man of the match.
Joe was awarded the 2022 Australian Olympic Change Maker Award and the Kingaroy State High School Tom Cush memorial shield for the best and fairest player.
Joe’s mother Libby Meikle said Joe will attend the University of the Sunshine Coast next year.
“He will chase his rugby league dream to one day play in the NRL,” she said.
Abbey Kapernick: athletics
Abbey, 18, is a student at Kingaroy State High School and has shown an interest in athletics since the age of 6 when she joined South Burnett Little Athletics.
Abbey was awarded gold medals for under 17 and 18 high jump at the state competition.
She qualified for the National Athletics Competition in Sydney in 2018 and 2019.
Abbey has broken and set records in high jump, long jump, triple jump and hurdles at the South Burnett Little Athletics Club.
Harrison Braithwaite: rugby league
Harrison, 15, began his rugby league journey at the age of 6 and captained the Kingaroy Red Ants under 14s team this year.
Harrison represented the South Burnett rugby league team grand final of the Toowoomba Junior Rugby League competition this year.
Harrison said it was truly an honour and privilege to play alongside these boys and under the South Burnett banner for the first year.
“I have also travelled to the Gold Coast to play for the Wide Bay u15 team in the state trials,” he said.
Harrison was recently offered a contract at the Dolphins NRL Academy where he travelled to Sydney to play.
Harrison said rugby has taught him to be an honest and hardworking individual on and off the field.
D’arcy Harmsworth: cricket
D‘arcy, 11, started playing in the Junior Blaster program when he was 6.
He then went into Master Blaster which is similar to the T20 style of cricket
D’arcy’s mother Pieta Harmsworth said it is a quick fun game with a great atmosphere on a Friday night.
“He had a natural talent it seems as was selected to play in the SB Under 12 team,” she said.
D’arcy was selected to play in the Ian Healy Cup tournament for Wide Bay at the age of 9.
The following year D’arcy was selected for the Ian Healy Cup and was awarded Man of the Match for one of the games with his bowling figures three for 11 off five with two maiden overs.
Over the past 12 months D’arcy has attended training clinics in the South Burnett held by the Sunshine Coastal Marlins who are in the Brisbane Premier League.
D’arcy said the best part of being a part of different cricket teams is meeting kids from all over the place.
He now has his sight set on the Under 12 Wide Bay Queensland Junior Competition team to be announced.
Riley Kerkow: athletics
Riley Kerkow, 16, is in Year 11 at Saint Mary's Catholic College.
This year Riley has achieved age champion for both cross country and athletics at Saint Mary’s.
Riley has competed for South Burnett and Wide Bay, shortly after he attended the Queensland State Championships for both cross country and athletics competing in the 6km cross country running competition at the Gold Coast and recently javelin in Brisbane.
He was nominated as Most Improved Player of the South Burnett Eagles this year.
Riley has also played rugby league for South Burnett Eagles playing across the regional areas with his team. Riley’s mother Shirley Kerkow said Riley loves playing sport.
“He encourages others to have a go and do their best,” she said.
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