The Department of Sport and Recreation (DSR) and its Minister Terry Waldron have congratulated the winners of the industry’s night of nights – the biennial Sport and Recreation Industry Awards 2009, which were presented at a gala ceremony at the Burswood Entertainment Complex on Friday 27 November.
03 December 2009
Run by DSR, the awards recognise innovation and exceptional achievement across all areas of sport and recreation in Western Australia and this year coincided with Active 09, the department’s annual industry conference.
The Minister said the biggest winner on the night was the Shire of Katanning, which took out the Commitment to Participation award before following this up with the night’s most prestigious honour – winning the $10,000 Minister’s Award for Industry Excellence.
“With its commitment to providing sport and recreation opportunities for its culturally diverse community, the Shire of Katanning’s residents were already winners, and now they have Western Australian sport and recreation’s most prestigious award to support that,” Minister Waldron said.
“On behalf of the state government and all Western Australians, I congratulate everyone who was honoured with an award on the night – these individuals and organisations represent the highest achievers in the sport and recreation industry.”
The Shire of Katanning’s two awards recognise its implementation of a range of programs and initiatives at Katanning Leisure Centre aimed at engaging community members from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) backgrounds in sport and recreation.
“It was great to see so many examples of the use of sport and recreation to build stronger, healthier, happier and safer communities among the award finalists and winners,” the Minister said.
“The high quality of the record number of entries received reinforces the important work being done by the sport and recreation industry to better the lives of Western Australians no matter what their background is or where they live.
“The determination and passion of those involved in these projects is what makes the industry so crucial to our society and ensures that Western Australia continues to be a world leader in the delivery of better lifestyle opportunities to the community.”
Other winners on the night were:
Fitness Australia Fitness Professional 2009 Award
Jill Edmonds
Runs own personal training studio in Margaret River and online personal training business www.jetpt.com. Has also written e-books, magazine articles and conference presentations
Outdoors WA Achiever Award
Mike Wood
Board Member of Bibbulmun Track and Munda Biddi Trail Foundations, TrailsWA Reference Panel member, State Director of Australian Himalaya Foundation, Managing Director of Mountain Designs and Peregrine Travel Centre owner, Chairperson of Water, Recreation, Sport and Tourism Alliance
LIWA Aquatics Special Service Award
Jeff Fondacaro
President of LIWA Aquatics and Board Member since 1993
Parks and Leisure Australia WA Award for Excellence
Creating Communities Australia
For its community Stewardship by Design project at the Village at Wellard
WA Sports Federation Achiever’s Award
Swimming WA
Industry Award for Management
West Australian Football Commission
Best Revitalisation of an Existing Facility Award
City of Stirling
For Leisurepark Balga
Provision of Sport and Recreation to Regional WA Award
YMCA Perth
Swim for Life Program
Award for Volunteer Support
WA Flying Disc Association
Commitment to Participation Award
Shire of Katanning
Community Event Award
Football West
For Football with the Fuzz
Major Sport and Recreation Event Award
Triathlon Western Australia
For Busselton Festival of Triathlon
FutureNow Commitment to Professional Development Award
City of Melville
John Graham Award (for exceptional service to the sport and recreation industry)
Tony Head
Executive Officer of LIWA Aquatics. Twenty-year contribution to industry. Was President of LIWA Aquatics for 17 years
Minister's Award for Industry Excellence
Shire of Katanning
