Meet the nominees for Daphne Pirie Spirit of Sport on the Gold Coast Award
The race for the Daphne Pirie Spirit of Sport Award is on and we can reveal the quality nominees looking to take out the title. MEET THE NOMINEES HERE >>
Junior Sports
Don't miss out on the headlines from Junior Sports. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THE race for the Gold Coast Sports Star Award is on and with an Olympic Games on offer in 2021, there are no shortage of quality nominees looking to take out the title.
DAPHNE PIRIE SPIRIT OF SPORT NOMINEES
Barry and Colleen Gilbert - Contribution to the sport of lawn bowls.
RUN it like a pub.
That is how Barry and Colleen Gilbert transformed the Broadbeach Bowls Club from a debt-ridden mess on the verge of a takeover into a renowned establishment attracting bowlers from around the world.
In 2008 the club was in financial ruin. They owed $150,000 and barely able to pay the couple of staff they had while trying to survive each day.
A special general meeting was called and Barry, who was playing socially at the club at the time, was thrust into the frame.
They were on the verge of handing over the club to Kurrawa Surf Club within a week but they asked Barry if he would consider running it in a bid to keep hold of the club.
Who better? Barry and Colleen had spent their lives running pubs in the NSW regions of Narromine, Thirroul and Glebe before they partnered with late friend and NRL immortal Arthur Beetson to run a pub in Brisbane.
“I stuck my hand up and asked them to give me six months to turn it around,” Barry said.
“They voted me in as chairman. Colleen wasn’t at the meeting so I had to ring her to let her know we were running the club.
“When we took it over it was a mess. I had to even pay a painter out of my own pocket.
“There were weeds growing up the side of the green. The first Friday night we were here at 8pm and there was one other lady bowler here. The kitchen contractor had got a friend of his to sing and we weren’t game to go home because he would have had no one to sing to.
“On a Friday now we can take $25,000 over the bar and there are hundreds of people everywhere. Some Saturday’s you can’t move in the place and we have $1 million in the bank.”
The greatest challenge the Gilbert’s have now is finding enough staff to cater for how busy the club is. It’s why they have both been nominated for the 2022 Daphne Pirie AO MBE Spirit of Sport Medal.
Michelle Schultz - Contribution to football
A PIONEER of Gold Coast football has been nominated for the Daphne Pirie Spirit of Sport Medal after transforming her club on and off the field.
Michelle Shultz’s legacy in the sport on the Gold Coast and at Musgrave Football Club is one that will never be forgotten.
The one-time sponsorship co-ordinator then secretary has been at the helm of Musgrave for 10 years.
In that time she has helped launch an inclusive football program for children and young adults with special needs, introduced multicultural tournaments and literally rebuilt the clubhouse.
“It is hard work but it’s rewarding” Shultz said.
“If something isn’t working you just roll up your sleeves and help.”
Musgrave has now been running an inclusive program for eight years, with players meeting each Sunday.
Merrimac, Broadbeach and Gold Coast United have all started their own programs and Shultz’s dream is to have enough clubs join to launch a monthly inclusive competition.
“I’ve always been a firm believer that everyone deserves to play the sport we love,” Shultz said.
Shultz also combined with other volunteers to rebuild the Musgrave clubhouse in a move that saved the club hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“It was hard work. Blood, sweat and tears have gone into it,” she said.
“We needed to replace the roof. The ceiling was caving in and it was dangerous. We fought hard to get some grants and we gutted it to just two walls. I didn’t have any holidays over the past year-and-a-half. I just worked on the clubhouse.
“We started it in October of 2020 and finished it in March of 2021. It cost us $170,000 and Gold Coast City Council have told us it would have cost them about $1 million to do.”
The Daphne Pirie Spirit of Sport Medal will be handed out at the Gold Coast Sports Star of the Year Gala on July 8 at RACV Royal Pines.
PARASPORT STAR OF THE YEAR NOMINEES
CURTIS MCGRATH
The decorated paddler made history in Tokyo by becoming the first para-canoe athlete to win two gold medals at a Paralympic Games. McGrath defended his KL2 title, claiming the gold with a time of 41:426 while he also won the inaugural VL3 200m final, crossing in a time of 50.537.
SUSAN SEIPEL
Susan Seipel (pictured right above) claimed a silver medal in the women’s VL2 200m at the Tokyo Paralympic Games last year, finishing in a time of 1:01.481. It was a spectacular performance that she backed up by finishing seventh in the women’s KL2 200m race, crossing in 0:56.522. 2.
THOMAS GALLAGHER
A man who made his Paralympic debut in Tokyo in style. Gallagher will never forget his maiden Games after claiming bronze in the men’s 400m freestyle S10 race. He clocked a time of 4:03.91 to secure his place on the podium. The superstar of the pool also featured in the 100m freestyle.
MADELEINE MCTERNAN
The gun swimmer helped Australia add to its medal haul at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. McTernan was part of the Australian 4x100m mixed freestyle relay S14 team that secured a silver medal. McTernan also competed in the S14 backstroke at the same Games.
SPORTS STAR OF THE YEAR NOMINEES
JEAN VAN DER WESTHUYZEN & THOMAS GREEN
Jean van der Westhuyzen didn’t even have a Wikipedia page before shocking the world alongside Tom Green to take out the K2 1000 metres event at the Tokyo Olympics.
Van der Westhuyzen and Green weren’t even Australia’s greatest medal hope after finishing second to Riley Fitzsimmons and Jordan Wood at the national championships.
The pair rose together to bolt from the blue and claim Australia’s first K2 1000 Gold.
MAT BELCHER
Gold Coaster Mat Belcher and partner Will Ryan only needed to avoid disqualification and finish the final race of the Olympics to take home the Gold medal.
Instead the fearless crew dominated the field to cross the line first, celebrating by leaping into the water.
KEEGAN PALMER
Currumbin teenager Keegan Palmer’s huge stack in the build-up to the first Olympic Park skateboarding final didn’t worry him a lick as he dropped in.He pulled off a kickflip body varial 540 to net a score of 94.04 in his first run to take a lead and his final run was even better with 95.83.
EMMA MCKEON
Emma McKeon set the world alight when she became Australia’s most decorated Olympian.McKeon took her medal haul to 11 in Tokyo, winning four gold medals in the 50m and 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley while also winning bronze in the 100m butterfly, 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m mixed medley.
She did it all after joining Michael Bohl’s Griffith University squad on the Gold Coast.
SHANE VAN GISBERGEN
The Red Bull Ampol Racing driver produced one of the most dominant years in Supercars history to claim the crown in 2021.
Van Gisbergen won 14 Supercars races and secured nine podiums in a season that included 30 starts.
He finished the series on 2930 points, 211 ahead of Jamie Whincup who has since retired.
Anton De Pasquale was his closest rival in terms of wins but only managed five in the same year.
Gisbergen missed the top 10 just three times in the series and he completed every lap of the year.
Outside of the Supercars title, Gisbergen also won the New Zealand Grand Prix and the Bathurst 6 Hour.
LOGAN MARTIN
Logan Martin entered the Tokyo Olympic Games as reigning World Champion and favourite for gold.
He delivered in the biggest way, securing gold on his first run and thrilling with his victory lap to soak it all in after training on a ramp in his Gold Coast backyard.
CHELSEA HODGES
Breastroker Chelsea Hodges combined with fellow Gold Coast resident Emma McKeon and Australian teammates Cate Campbell and Kaylee McKeown to set an Olympic record in the 4x100m medley relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games last year. The group edged out the US by a staggering 0.13.
ALI DAY
The Surfers Paradise athlete took a clean sweep of the 2020/20 Nutri-Grain Ironman Series, winning all six rounds. He went on to complete the triple crown, winning the ironman title at the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships as well as the 2021 Coolangatta Gold.
GOLD COAST JUNIOR SPORTS STAR NOMINEES
They may be young, but these Gold Coast rising stars are plotting a course for the top of their respective fields.
Blessed with plenty of talent across a variety of sports, the 10 emerging prospects on the Glitter Strip will now vie for the honour of the region’s finest junior sport star when the awards are announced in July.
Meet the determined athletes out to make an impression on the national stage in the years to come.
AVA USHER:
Represented Gold Coast at the state basketball championships, where the shooting guard was named in the All Star team as a bottom-age player.
With the Sherrin in-hand the midfielder and Suns Academy player helped Palm Beach Currumbin State High School Aussie rules team to the AFLQ Schools Cup state title, after also being selected in the Queensland Under-15 team.
Usher, named News Corp’s Qld Grassroots Athlete of the Year in 2021, also won a board silver medal at the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships while battling through a broken foot.
All of this in the wake of a one-time prosperous junior swimming career, which included a state gold medal and representation at nationals in the 100m and 50m freestyle.
Oh, and in recent months Bond University’s Rugby 7s program has turned her head.
FLYNN SOUTHAM:
Labelled one of the superstars of the future in Australian swimming, the teenager turns heads at every event he competes at.
At the age of 15 in 2021, The Bond University dominated the pool to win six gold medals.
He broke two Australian age records, including his own 100m freestyle time.
It came months after he beating the age record of Olympic gold medallist Kyle Chalmers’.
Overall he won gold in the 200m backstroke, 100m backstroke, 100m freestyle, 50m freestyle, 200m freestyle and 4x50m freestyle relay.
SIERRA KERR:
The daughter of former Championship Tour surfer Josh Kerr, she is one of the best young surfers coming through the Aussie ranks.
The 15-year-old won the female Rising Star Award at the Australian Surfing Awards for a second straight year in May for her efforts across 2021.
Kerr made the final of the 2021 Gold Coast Open, made the semi-finals of the Tweed Coast Pro Junior which was her first World Surf League event.
She went on to make the quarterfinals of the Tweed Coast Pro open event.
Kerr splits her time between Australia and the United States.
TOM WEAVER:
A Palm Beach Currumbin State High School Langer Cup halfback who signed with the Gold Coast Titans at the end of 2021 and is seen as its next playmaking talent.
Weaver was named in the 2021 Australian Schoolboys team and helped guide Palm Beach to the prestigious Phil Hall Cup, the biggest schoolboys league title in Queensland, with a 62-0 win over St Brendan’s. ‘
The state title win came on the back of Weaver’s ability to lead Palm Beach to back-to-back Allan Langer Trophy crowns.
BAYLEY HALL:
A motorsport driver who did so well in 2021 that he has a full-time spot in the Porsche Carrera Cup in 2022 with McElrea Racing.
Hall, 18 last year, had an impressive debut in the 2021 Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge series where he finished fifth.
He demonstrated his maturity and speed on several occasions, including a front row start and podium in his first ever Porsche race at Phillip Island.
Despite his young age, the talented GT racer has already amassed a large amount of experience, having competed a number of different racing series and cars including the Australia GT Championship and the Bathurst combined sedans series. Hall is also the youngest ever podium finisher at the Bathurst 12 Hour, finishing third in class in a Marc Cars Mustang V8.
FLEUR DAVIES:
Gold Coast Suns female Academy player who plays key forward and ruck.
Davies, 17 last year, won a senior women’s premiership with Southport in 2021 and is part of the national AFLW Academy.
A versatile tall at 185cm with the athletic attributes to compete at a high level both as a key forward and a ruck. She has fantastic hands and great skills.
HAVANA HARRIS:
Havana Harris earned 2022 U18 AFLW All-Australian selection for her combination work between ruck and full-forward. Across her three National Championship games for Queensland she averaged 8.7 disposals, 2.0 marks, 11.7 hitouts, 2.0 tackles and 2.0 inside 50s. As a 2006 born player she still has two more years in this age group and is already out classing her much older opposition through her athleticism and ability to compete.
In the second half of the season, Havana will join with her U16 peers in the Gold Coast Suns Academy firstly competing in the Zone Championships in June and National Championship games in September.
Havana plays in the local U17 Youth Girls competition for the Burleigh Bombers.
JAIME FOX, TOMA FAULKNER:
The two Robina State High School graduates have signed college deals in the US.
Both secured their deals in 2021 and adds to a clear pathway that has been created from Australia to America.
Fox secured a place at Iowa College, Faulker signed with Florida. Fox and Faulkner were also named in the 2021 All-Australian Under-18 squad.
KANE MACKIN:
A Gold Coast gridiron player who signed a deal to attend West Toronto Prep Football in Canada in 2021 for 2022.
Mackin came through the Gold Coast Stingrays junior and colts programs, playing multiple positions. He found success as a running back and represented Queensland and Australia as a defensive end.
More Coverage
Sprint kings of junior rugby union: Meet the Gold Coast’s quickest U13s
Meet the lightning-fast teenagers who are dominating Gold Coast's under-13 rugby union competition, including five fullbacks blessed with extraordinary pace.
MEGA GALLERY: 170+ photos from TSS v TGS rugby union
From First and Second XV stars to emerging talent in the 16As and 15Bs, relive the tackles and tries from The Southport School's GPS rugby clashes against Toowoomba Grammar.