Athletes from the Central Coast Academy of Sport finished on the winner’s podium in all six sports they competed in at this year’s NSW Academy Games.
The Central Coast Academy was represented in basketball, netball, golf, rugby sevens, surfing and tenpin bowling. Other sports held at the fi nal NSW Academy Games to be hosted by the Central Coast Academy were hockey, soft ball and triathlon. The basketball competition saw the CCAS boys’ team taking home a silver medal, while the young CCAS girls’ team fought hard to fi nish fi fth overall. Only four of the fourteen girls were topage players, so the CCAS girls’ basketball team grew in experience over the course of the Games. The CCAS boys’ basketball team was made up of a majority of players who were in their fi nal eligible year and put their knowledge and experience to great use over the weekend.
The CCAS boys’ golf representatives were fi erce competitors in all events, fi nishing in first position overall. In the Academy Teams Golf Challenge, the CCAS boys’ team comprising of Liam Gocher, Jake Kable, Daniel Pedzikiewicz and Noah Miller, took out fi rst place over Western Region Academy of Sport and Illawarra Academy of Sport. Liam Gocher fi nished third in the Boys Scratch and Daniel Pedzikiewicz took out First place in the Nett competition in a countback. The Netball competition saw both CCAS girls’ teams reaping the benefi ts of their work with coaches Jess Morgan and Casey Judge and the alignment with the Central Coast Heart Premier League.
The level of play in the Clubs NSW Academy Games netball competition is always exceptional and the CCAS Division One girls managed to come away from the Games undefeated for the fi rst time ever, which was an outstanding achievement. The CCAS Division 1 MVP was Jessica Kelly, while Charlee Proctor was awarded the CCAS Division 2 MVP. The CCAS Rugby Sevens representatives performed exceptionally well, having only trained once before the tournament.
The boys just missed out on a Grand Final berth to secure a Bronze Medal, while the girls took home a silver medal defeated by a red hot Illawarra side in the fi nal. The outcome was a fantastic achievement from both teams, helped by a very busy coach in Mitch Drinkwater and his great management staff. Heather Duffy and Shenay Ball were outstanding players for the girls while Kye Shorrock and the Peruch twins, Adam and Sean, stood out for the boys. It was a local derby in the surfing competition with CCAS going head to head against the Hunter Academy of Sport (HAS) in a tag team exhibition. Highlight performances came from Joel Buxton, Australian under-14 champion Joel Vaughan, and 2017 Australian Open of Surfi ng under-16 girls champion, Molly Picklum, saw the CCAS team victorious over HAS. CCAS coaches, Marcus Davidson and Sandra English, were assisted by the Hunter’s, Dan Frodsham, who helped to run a great event at the idyllic Soldiers Beach.
For the first time, Tenpin Bowling featured at the ClubsNSW Academy Games, with CCAS winning first team overall in the inaugural event. O u t s t a n d i n g performances were achieved by four bowlers: Ryan Baxter, Cameron Johnson, Damon Lloyd and Connor Withyman. Damon Lloyd had a great tournament particularly, featuring on the podium in all categories and finishing as the top bowler across the event with an average score of 211. Coach Dave Brooker was impressed at the hard work put in by the squad throughout the program and is delighted to see it pay off as they fi nish 2017’s program with the Academy Games title.
Source: Media release, Apr 12, 2017 Central Coast Academy of Sport media