National Sports Report – May 2013
Albury Sporting Weekend
The Albury Sports weekend schedule and details have now been released. Albury this year will be a wholly online registration for both sports and social aspects of the weekend. I would like to thank Leanne Wegener, Meredith Young and Tom Carney for assisting me with the weekend so far.
The weekend is a great chance for social sport in a year where much focus is on the World Dwarf Games. I want everyone to be aware that the Albury sports weekend is and always will be a weekend for all, no experience required. Getting people active is an extremely important thing and the weekend is a great opportunity to do so.
Badminton
The first Para-Badminton event of the year is the Melbourne Central Open, which will be held on 26th May at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre.
The entry form can be downloaded from http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=1-6055-0-0-0&sID=276997
Entries will be accepted on line via the tournament planner site http://ba.tournamentsoftware.com/tournamentlist.aspx?id=2
(We prefer you to pay by bank transfer (details on entry form)
Please remember that dwarf class events are not exclusive events any SSPA member can compete. If you enter the competition please let me know so we can keep you informed about updates and training information.
Boccia
The Boccia National titles will be held from Monday May 2nd at the Sydney Academy of Sport and Recreation, Narrabeen, NSW. There will be Short Statured athletes; Alyssa Biddle (SA), Renee Kosch (Vic) and James Whitaker (Vic) competing in the open division at the titles. These athletes have made it to the nationals after being selected at their state titles. I wish them all the very best for the competition.
World Dwarf Games Update
It is an exciting time for team Australia, flights are booked and athletes have been registered.
With the help of Michael Blair we have established a website for the Australian World Dwarf Games team. The site is still under construction however we hope it will be up and running very soon. The site can be found at www.wdg.org.au
Fundraising and Sponsorship
Athletes are doing a fantastic job so far with fundraising; I would like to acknowledge both Ash Hutchins and Anna Sydenham who both is smaller communities are working incredibly hard to raise funds for team Australia. I encourage all athletes to keep working hard to make out fundraising targets.
The team has secured its first major sponsor for the 2013 WDG with ClubsNSW coming on board with a $30,000.00 contribution. We thank them very much for their support.
For more information on the World Dwarf Games, Team Australia or sponsorship, visit: www.2013worlddwarfgames.org & www.sspa.org.au
Sam Millard
National Sports Coordinator – SSPA
E: samuel.r.millard@gmail.com