The Hills Shire Times finalists for the 2018 Local Sports Star awards have been selected
Meet the nine Hills Shire Times finalists for the 2018 Local Sports Star awards.
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Meet the finalists in our 2018 Local Sports Stars Award. The winners in each category, and the overall Local Sports Star chosen from all our mastheads across Sydney and the Central Coast, will be announced at a gala ceremony held on Tuesday, October 30.
Congratulations to all our finalists and good luck!
JUNIOR SPORTS STAR
Felicity Chan
Swimming may be regarded as an individual sport but Felicity Chan credits a team effort for her outstanding results in the pool. Felicity dominated at this year’s Australian School Swimming Championships, claiming gold in 50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke and 4 x 50m medley relay. Along with her school championships success, Felicity narrowly missed out on 100m breaststroke gold at the Australian Age Swimming Championships.
She also took part in the Commonwealth Games trials at the start of the year.
Tahlia Geelan
When Tahlia Geelan was selected to take part in the 2018 Australian Gymnastics Championships for trampolining, her expectations weren’t too high.
She was only hoping to make it through to the finals and she certainly wasn’t expecting to be named a dual under-13 age champion.
However, Tahlia put together a stirring performance as she blitzed her older competition to take out the national title in both trampoline and double mini trampoline. She said the result was “a dream come true.”
Joshua Blench
Joshua is at the pinnacle of gymnastics power tumbling. He won his first national title at just eight years old before following up with another one the year after. This year Joshua was crowned under-11 state tumbling champion. In November Joshua will be heading to Russia to represent Australia at the prestigious World Age Group competition. However, his success doesn’t come easy. Joshua trains more than 25 hours a week, including before and after school. He even moved schools this year to be closer to his gym for training.
YOUNG SPORTING SPIRIT
Madison Rodd
A lot of hard work and dedication goes into making Madison Rodd one of the country’s best young trampolinists. She trains up to 30 hours a week before and after school, travelling almost 100km a day.
That commitment last year saw Madison named Gymnastics NSW Double Mini Tramp Athlete of the Year.
Madison was then chosen to be the youngest Australian representative at the World Age Championships in Bulgaria, even coming away with a silver medal.
Emmanuel Misak
It would be hard for anyone to match the appreciation Emmanuel Misak has for football.
His 12-month-old brother was diagnosed with a high grade malignant tumour in his spine in January this year.
Despite the impact this has had on Emmanuel and his family, he has turned up to every training session and given it his all, only missing one game all year. Football is one of the few normalities in his life and he has maintained a high degree of passion for the sport throughout a difficult year.
Holly Robinson
Holly Robinson is the next big thing in the world of dance. In January, she was the youngest competitor at the national championships where she was crowned Petite Dancer of the Year. She then travelled to Spain to represent Australia at the Dance World Cup.
Holly also won a major modelling contract with international dancewear company Capezio. She gave up a promising gymnastics career to focus full-time on dance, which she practices for 14 hours every week.
JUNIOR SPORTS STAR TEAM
Hills Hornets
The Hills Hornets under-14 girls division one squad is unstoppable. The team took out the grand final of the 2018 Metro Waratah basketball league after dominating the competition throughout the year. They were also undefeated champions of the Gosford Coastal Classic tournament and represented NSW at the Junior National Classics competition in June. The girls were also crowned state champions after an undefeated run through the Basketball NSW State Championships.
SERVICE TO SPORT
Dianne Carn
While her competitive days may be behind her, Di Carn is currently doing the most important work of her career as the head instructor and owner of Irontiger taekwondo in Castle Hill. A Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Carn is the only female coach on the Australian taekwondo Olympic Committee and holds a high position on the board of directors for taekwondo NSW. Her passion for the sport is second to none and that love of taekwondo is one of the biggest things she instils in her students.
YOUNG SPORTING SPIRIT TEAM
Hills Rockets
Not even a six-game losing streak could keep The Hills Basketball Rockets under-13 boys off the court. After a shared love of basketball brought them together at the start of the year, the team were unable to get a win. However, they persevered and, after dropping a division, they finally managed to get a victory. The Rockets then went on to win four games in a row. Despite their inexperience in the sport of basketball, the team’s passion has never wavered and they used every loss as motivation to succeed. The boys have become more confident both on and off the court with each passing week.