Sandhurst Trustees Hall of Fame & Awards
Bowls Australia crowned the year’s finest athletes and administrators in front of a capacity crowd at the historic Bendigo Town Hall on Saturday night at the 2013 Sandhurst Trustees Hall of Fame and Awards Night, hosted by former Olympic cyclist Scott McGrory.
NSW were well represented in the highly coveted athlete categories, capturing all three senior gongs, with Ettalong Memorial’s Aron Sherriff collecting the night’s major accolade, securing a back-to-back International Bowler of the Year award after a stunning 12 months that included guiding the men’s fours to a gold medal at the 27-nation World Championships last December.
Sherriff, 27, also played an instrumental role in Australia’s success on the world stage at the six-nation SA International Series in May, where he clinched a silver medal in the pairs, and the green and gold’s dominance over traditional rival New Zealand at the Trans Tasman test series in September.
Sherriff’s state and national teammate, Mark Casey took out the Male Bowler of the Year, adding to the inaugural award, alongside the International Bowler of the Year trophy, that he secured in 2011.
During an unforgettable year on the national circuit, Casey, 30, became just the second player to capture the nation’s most coveted double in the same year after prevailing in a thriller at the Australian Indoor Championship in August, having already clinched the Australian Open singles title in February.
Alongside two of the biggest singles trophies the nation has to offer, Casey was also pivotal in Queensland’s victory at the Australian Sides Championships, helping the Maroons secure the Alley Shield.
Cabramatta’s queen of the greens, Karen Murphy, earned her first Female Bowler of the Year award after excelling on both the national and international stage during a stunning 12 months.
On the national front, Karen secured her fifth Australian Indoor Championships crown, before going on to snare both National Champion of Champions trophies later in the year at Queanbeyan, securing the singles and pairs.
A top of the dais finish at the SA International Series in the women’s triples, in addition to the PBA Ladies World Matchplay Singles crown at Potters in England, and two gold medals from the 2012 World Championships, including the highly-prized blue-ribbon singles, are among Murphy’s international highlights from 2012.
Widely touted as one of the nation’s most promising young players, Broadbeach’s Sean Ingham was awarded the Under-18 Male Bowler of the Year title.
Commencing the year with a compelling performance at the 2012 Junior Trans Tasman, during which he went through undefeated in the singles and pairs, followed by a dominant run on the national front clinching the gold medal in the boys’ pairs at the 2012 Australian Under-18 Championships and a bronze medal in the fours, while a top of the dais finish at the Junior Golden Nugget ranks highly among his long list of achievements.
In the final athlete award of the night, fellow bright young bowls prospect, Renee McPharlin, secured the Under-18 Female Bowler of the Year gong after a runner-up finish in the category at last year’s Awards Night.
A second-place finish in the girls’ singles to fellow finalist Natasha Jones at the 2012 Australian Under-18 Championships, and a fourth place finish in the girls’ pairs, rounded out an impressive year on the national circuit for the Balaklava junior, which also included international representation at the Trans Tasman.
In the non-playing awards on offer, 730’s Michael Sexton from ABC Adelaide took home the Story of the Year award for his six-minute exposé on the generational change that has swept the sport of lawn bowls leading into the World Championships in Adelaide.
South Australia’s Beth Young was recognised as the Volunteer of the Year, NSW’s Pam Hockings received the Official of the Year and Bowls Australia’s Community Development Officer Gary Dillon was the inaugural CDO of the Year.
Bowls Australia wishes to congratulate the nominees, finalists and winners of the 2013 Hall of Fame and Awards Night.
Background brief on award winners:
Story of the Year
Sponsored by the City of Greater Bendigo
Michael Sexton (ABC Adelaide)
Michael’s ‘Young Aussies take on World in Lawn Bowl Comp’ and ‘Lawn Bowls, not just for the oldies’ six-minute exposé on the sport ran on the national ABC program ‘7.30’, identifying the generational change that has swept the sport in recent times, whilst also promoting the accessibility and benefits of the game to all ages. Interviews with Steve Glasson, Leif Selby, Natasha Van Eldik and Shannon McIlroy provided an insight into the elite level of competition rarely shown on prime-time free-to-air.
Official of the Year
Sponsored by Rising Stars
Pam Hockings (NSW)
Pam is currently the Chair of the NSWWBA Match Committee, in which she passes on her knowledge of the sport and provides individual assistance to fellow committee members, assists with rulings on matches, formats of play,laws of the sport and officiating techniques.
Pam is a dedicated and passionate official for the sport, and shows an exceptional understanding of the game, demonstrates sound knowledge and is always able to provide efficient answers for officials, state committees, STA staff and members alike.
In March 2011, after 11 years of experience as a bowls official, she was accredited as an International Technical Officer, after which she has acted as an official at multiple international, national, state, district and club events, including the 2012 Australian Open, 2012 National Champion of Champions and
Coach of the Year
Sponsored by Werther’s Original
Jaewyn Norton (Western Australia)
Jaewyn, a former Bowls WA board member and high performance director, is Western Australia’s current Under-18 coach and selector.
It is in this category that she is nominated tonight, having played an instrumental role in Western Australia claiming the spoils at the 2012 Australian Under-18 Championships, in which they secured two gold, two silver and two bronze medals from the eight disciplines on offer to clean sweep the boys’, girls’ and Robert Middleton Overall trophies.
Jaewyn has coached at Safety Beach and other clubs around WA since 2004 and empowers players to get the best results.
Volunteer of the Year
Sponsored by Bowlswear
Beth Young (South Australia)
Beth, a member of Bowls Australia’s National Officiating Committee, has been an integral volunteer at numerous international events in South Australia over the past 12 months, including the 2011 Australia v South Africa Test Series, the 2012 Trans Tasman and the World Championships.
During these international events, Beth played a vital role in the preparation and coordinator of International Technical Officials and umpires.
She also conducts regular network sessions for umpires at all levels in South Australia, and is the Bowls SA umpire chair and sits on the BA National Officiating Committee.
Community Development Officer of the Year
Sponsored by Clean Energy Future
Garry Dillon (North East Victoria)
Garry has been recognised for his contribution as a Bowls Australia Community Development Officer with the inaugural CDO of the Year award.
Garry is based in North East Victoria, with his area spanning from the regions of Loddon in the west, Murrindini in the south and Towong in the east.
Garry’s ability to build relationships with clubs in his region has been second to none, and his assistance with training new CDOs into the program has been an invaluable asset. Garry also started a junior development squad from scratch and assisted one of his clubs to attract 60 new junior members within two months of operation, and helped generated $170,000 worth of funding forclubs within his portfolio.
Under-18 Female Bowler of the Year
Sponsored by Taylor Bowls
Renee McPharlin (Balaklava, South Australia)
Renee, a runner-up in this category at last year’s Awards Night, is widely touted as one of the nation’s brightest young prospects.
A runner-up finish in the girls’ singles to fellow finalist Natasha Jones at the 2012 Australian Under-18 Championships, and a fourth place finish in the girls’ pairs, rounded out an impressive year on the national calendar.
In the green and gold, Renee played an integral part in Australia’s clinical performance at the 2012 Junior Trans Tasman in Invercargil, with her relentless attack helping mark Australia’s tenth win since the event’s inception in 2002, with a test series whitewashing.
Under-18 Male Bowler of the Year
Sponsored by BCiB
Sean Ingham (Broadbeach, Queensland)
Sean has long been touted as one of the nation’s most promising young players and that view has been further reinforced after a superb 2012.
Commencing the year with a compelling performance at the 2012 Junior Trans Tasman, during which he went undefeated in the singles and pairs, helped clinch the revered junior boys’ and junior overall silverware with a test to spare.
On the national front, Sean was just as dominant, clinching the golden medallion in the boys’ pairs at the 2012 Australian Under-18 Championships and a bronze in the fours, while a top of the dais finish at the Junior Golden Nugget also ranks highly among his long list of achievements.
Last year, Sean was awarded the inaugural David Fordham Junior Sport Award, established in memory of the sports broadcast who passed away in 2011 from prostate cancer, beating out contestants for a wide range of sports.
Female Bowler of the Year
Sponsored by the Australian Sports Commission
Karen Murphy (Cabramatta, NSW)
The long list of achievements notched up by Karen during 2012 is a sight to behold, excelling on both the national and international stage during a stunning 12 months.
On the national front, Karen again demonstrated her love of the Tweed Head carpet with her fifth Australian Indoor Championships crown, before going on to snare both National Champion of Champions trophies later in the year at Queanbeyan, in both the singles and pairs, affording her the honour to represent the nation at next year’s World Champion of Champions in New Zealand.
Male Bowler of the Year
Sponsored by City Club
Mark Casey (St Johns Park, NSW)
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Mark Casey became just the second player to capture the nation’s most coveted double in the same year after prevailing in a thriller at the Australian Indoor Championship in August, having already clinched the Australian Open singlestitle in February.
Alongside two of the biggest singles trophies the nation has to offer, Casey was also pivotal in Queensland’s victory at the Australian Sides Championships, helping the Maroons secure the Alley Shield.
This is Mark’s second nomination in this category, after claiming the inaugural award, alongside the International Bowler of the Year trophy, in 2011.
International Bowler of the Year
Sponsored by Sandhurst Trustees
Aron Sherriff (Ettalong Memorial, NSW)
Testament to another unprecedented year, Aron Sherriff has again been regnoised by his peers for the highly coveted International Bowler of the Year award,after securing the honours, along with the Male Bowler of the Year, last year.
On the international front, Aron commenced the 2012 year with a silver medal in the pairs at the six-nation SA International Series, held at Holdfast Bay in South Australia in May, before playing an instrumental role in the green and gold contingent’s dominance over the Trans Tasman test series against New Zealand, staged at Lockleys in September, and culminated in skipping the men’s fours and triples to a gold and silver medal at the 26-nation World Championships in November and December.
