Sutherland’s tough first round in cricket’s junior shields
In the first round of the Cricket NSW Inter Association Shields Sutherland’s teams had a tough initiation into the competition. While the Gee Shield had a bye, no wins were recorded by the other teams. Both the Creak Shield (under 11s) and the Watson Shield Teams (under 16s) had narrow losses. Reports from each of the games follow.
Despite a strong all round performance from captain B Curtis, Sutherland’s Creak Shield team lost a close match to Gladesville last Sunday. Curtis top scored with 76 before being run out in Sutherland’s innings of 6/163 off 50 overs. He then followed this up with 3/26 in Gladesville’s innings of 7/171. C Grimes also took 2/16.
In the Cawsey Shield (under 12), the Sutherland team were not able to match the strong South Eastern team. Sutherland batted first and scored 9/91 off its 50 overs. In reply, South Eastern’s openers scored 93 runs without loss f a wicket to take the match.
Sutherland had a bye in the under 13 competition (Gee Shield), while in the 14s (Moore Shield) Sutherland had a tough first round against Fairfield Liverpool. Fairfield batted first and scored 7/240 off 60 overs (D Ross 76, R Gibson 44). Best bowlers for Sutherland were M Hobden (3/37) and J D’Imperio (2/34). Despite a rearguard fight by J Dow to score 34, Sutherland was all out for 101 to lose the match.
In the Weblin Shield (under 15s), Georges River St George batted first to compile 7/259 (K Patterson 60) off its 60 overs. Best bowling for Sutherland came from G Wissam (3/50) and D Hunt (2/39). In the run chase, Sutherland’s openers, Smith (65) and Loder (21) began with a 52 run opening stand. However, despite further contributions from B Johnson (31) and A Thorogood (21), Sutherland was all out for 179 after Georges River St George’s Brooks took 5/29.
In the under 16s (Watson Shield), Sutherland bowled and fielded well to dismiss Georges River St George for 131 (A Walsh 32) in 49.2 overs. Best bowlers for Sutherland were C Wright (3/35), A McRae (2/12) and M Burg (2/18). Sutherland’s innings got away to a good start with a 51 run opening stand from Andersson (24) and McCarthy (26). With contributions from Rice (23) and Marlow (20) and the score at 4/100 Sutherland looked set for an easy win. However, the local side then lost 6/26 to lose by 5 runs.
Life Is Too Short Not To Be Busy… Local’s Olympic dream
ERIN JEAN MALONE IS JUST A SCHOOL GIRL ...
Having spent much of her youth swimming at the eminent Sutherland Leisure Centre in the ‘Shire’, the hustle and bustle of the pool is nothing out of the ordinary for the talented young swimmer. With an Olympic swim coach, a quality education and some solid family support under her cap, at age 17, this young fish floats on the cusp of elite swimming greatness. Reece Carter dives into the details behind a young woman with a healthy future ahead.
At 17 years of age, Erin is among the new generation of human fish, and although she is on the verge of making her first Olympic team and currently sitting her HSC examinations, she remains disturbingly chilled and carefree about it all. Erin has that little something about her. She wants to talk - and she definitely can.
She can also focus when she wants to, and her trial HSC marks are an indication of that incredible concentration. In these examinations, Erin reeled in marks of 80 and above in all her subjects. They aren’t your straightforward subjects either. To those who have experienced the stress of year twelve before, your jaws would drop; extension mathematics and English, as well as chemistry, physics and PD/H/PE all accomplished during rigorous amounts of training. In turn, she was awarded the Kirrawee High Caltex Medal for the Best All Rounder for her efforts.
At a time where most kids would drown under the pressure, Erin just floats her way through this tight schedule. Erin’s life begins at 5 o’clock in the morning, where she swims numerous laps for about two hours. She then shoots off almost instantly to school for a six-hour day of strenuous study and returns at three in the afternoon to continue training for another three hours. For the minds of many, swimming breaststroke up and down a pool constantly seems like a pretty dismal and dare I say boring, busy life to me.
Boring? “No”. Busy? “Yes…” but the bait won’t be taken. “Life is too short not to be busy,” Erin quipped. “People always ask me if it’s boring or becomes too much, but it’s not really all that bland. We do other things like cycling, skipping, weights and gym work to mix it up and keep things fun. Of course it’s busy, but that’s the challenge that leads to my dream.”
In terms of the physical and mental aspect of it all, Erin doesn’t dive away from the truth; her life can get pretty tough. “I guess physically it’s always going to be tiring and if it’s not I just say to myself ‘that I’m not trying hard enough’ so that then becomes the challenge. Mentally it does get tough unfortunately, especially this year where all my big competitions have collided with major exam periods.”
But swimming is a kind of relief for the Kirrawee High schoolgirl. It gives her an outlet from the stress she spirals into at school. “When I get in the pool, I don’t really think about anything but swimming. All the math’s and English stuff stays at home and it’s just me and the pool… it’s really relaxing. Swimming up and down a pool can sometimes seem pretty pointless I guess, especially when you’re not swimming well in training and everything is hurting, so it can get a bit overwhelming but that’s usually when you lose sight of your goals and dreams.”
“I would love to make an Australian team… but I just aspire to be a great person in and out of the water because really that’s all that matters at the end of the day.”
Erin’s dream of plunging into the Olympics will be determined when she competes at the 2008 Telstra Australian Championships in March next year. She hopes to secure a spot on the Australian team in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, and keep close to the tail of her idols, like Leisel Jones.
Although it may sound like just another bunch of names, these idols that Miss Malone rattled off, are a list of swimmers all of who have made quite a name for themselves in the swimming circles of late. Leisel Jones, Craig Stevens and Ky Hurst; are names that any swimmer worth their salt would be familiar with, as well as people that Erin reckons have had a huge influence on her and her simmering growth into the world of elite swimming.
“They are all amazing people who I admire so much. Leisel, for just the way she has handled her career so far and her achievements to go with it and I train with Craig and Ky so I get to see the rewards they receive for the amount of effort and guts they put into every training session. Also, my coach is Tracey Menzies (Ian Thorpe’s old coach), so that too is a huge bonus.”
But however influential these ‘idols’ might have been, Erin still reckons it’s her cousin Kasey Giteau who has been the most inspiring person in her life to date, since swimming competitively for 7 years. “From when I was about eleven years old, they had scouts at the swimming centre who were kind of looking for kids with I guess what they call ‘potential’ to join competitive swim squads, and I was asked if I wanted to become a part of that.”
At that same time, Erin tells me that Giteau was trialing for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where the first-hand experience of witnessing such a major competition, was a real highlight and motive for her. “After seeing Kasey perform so well, I jumped at the chance straight away to train with the elite squads.”
“It was such a buzz watching someone from our family competing at such a high level. One night we [family] watched her swim the 400m trial at home on TV. She was in lane 2, so there wasn’t any great expectation for her to make the team or anything; it was just awesome she was in the final! But she did the most amazing swim and led the whole way up until the last lap!”
It was that night that Erin realised the accolades of swimming, as Giteau was rewarded with a place on the National team, after finishing second to Sarah-Jane D’Arcy in the 400m freestyle. “So yeah, it was a simultaneous pure enjoyment and inspired aspiration from my cousin that made me take-up swimming seriously. Mum never MADE me go; I just did because I had the desire too.”
Hopefully after the HSC is completed, Erin can keep up with the Joneses and sparkle in the pool in the lead up to the Beijing Olympic Games!
Lenton takes four as Sportslive goes to the World Cup
Sportslive went to the second night of the World Cup short course swimming in Sydney last Saturday and witnessed a stunning performance by Libby Lenton who picked up her fourth title in the last event of the meet by breaking the Commonwealth short course record in the 50 metre butterfly.
Photo: Libby Lenton (lane 4) wins 50m butterfly from fellow Aussies Galvez (5) Marieke Guehrer (6)
Two other Aussies, Leisel Jones and Christian Sprenger each picked up three breaststroke titles while Randall Bal of the USA did the same in the backstroke events. Korea’s Taehwan Park showed his freestyle versatility by winning the men’s 200m, 400m and 1500m freestyle events.
Photo: Christian Sprenger (lane 4) pips fellow Aussie Brenton Rickard (3) in the 100m breaststroke
Unfortunately Sutherland’s Craig Stevens in his first major 400m freestyle competition for some time only qualified 12th fastest and missed out on the final by less than 1.5 seconds.
The World Cup has seven legs with the first having been in Durban, the second in Singapore, the third in Sydney followed by meets in Moscow, Stockholm, Berlin and Belo Horizonte. The winner of each final takes home US$1500, with second taking $1000 and third $500. While some experienced swimmers compete for the money, others use it as part of their competition experience for Olympics and World Championships. At each leg swimmers attract points towards male or female swimmer of the World Cup series. The winners take home US$100000.
For Sportslive’s photos of other Aussies in action including Libby Lenton, Leisel Jones, Stephanie Rice and Eamon Sullivan go to www.sportslive.com.au and click on Sutherland.
Three Sutherland basketballers invited to '08 development camp
Basketball Australia has selected three local women to attend the 2008 Australian Development Camp to be held at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) from January 21 - 27 next year. They are Kate Gaze and Joy Michelle for the 2009 Gems squad and Lauren Nicholson for the 2011 Gems squad.
Squads have been chosen for both the Under 19 Men’s (Emus) and Under 19 Women's (Gems) teams for the 2009 and 2011 World Championships, with next year's camp forming the starting point of preparation.
The annual camp will also include a Junior Wheelchair section for athletes identified as having the potential to one day represent Australia and a National Referees Development element. Attendees for those components are yet to be selected.
In its 24th year, the Australian Development Camp has played an important role in launching many careers of both past and present Opals, Boomers, Rollers and Gliders players as well as many top class referees.
"The strength of Australian basketball at both the senior level with the Opals and Boomers and the junior levels with the Emus, Gems and Sapphires starts at camps such as this,” said World Champion Australian Defence Opals Head Coach Jan Stirling.
"The development opportunities provided for young athletes in this country is one of our biggest strengths.
"We are global trendsetters in this area. Our junior development is simply fantastic."
Locals win AIS basketball scholarships for 2008
Two Sutherland basketball women have been selected to receive basketball scholarships to the Australian Institute of Sport in 2008. They are seventeen year old Kate Gaze and sixteen year old Michelle Joy
Twenty-seven scholarships in total have been granted, with 14 for the men’s program and 13 for the women’s program.
“Gaining a scholarship to what is one of the best sporting institutions in the world is a great opportunity,” Basketball Australia’s General Manager of National Teams and Competitions Lorraine Landon said.
“We see a good deal of talent in the group and would like to congratulate all those athletes selected.”
The selected athletes are provided with tuition, board on the AIS campus in the Australian Capital Territory, and access to world class coaches, cutting edge sports science and first class facilities. The Class of 2008 officially begins work in January.
Bradman 2007/2008 summer cricket camps
The Bradman Foundation is running cricket camps for boys and girls aged between 11 and 17 years on 9 - 14 December 2007 & 13 - 18 January 2008
Accommodation & meals are provided at Chevalier College, Moss Vale Rd. Bowral. It is an all inclusive coaching camp with fun activities and guided tour of the Bradman Museum. Residential Clinics are fully supervised and include lectures on ethics and sportsmanship in addition to intensive coaching sessions for all skill levels.
Contact Susan Strangmen on: ph 02 4862 1247; email: info@bradman.com.au for an application form and brochure.
More Stories?
For more local sports stories click on Sutherland on www.sportslive.com.au
If you want publicity for your sport please contact the SportsLive Moderator at YourOnlineCommunity office on 4254 0200 or to contact via email Click here->
| 
