Regional Western Australia took home a swag of awards at the Western Australian Sport and Recreation Industry Awards 2009.
03 December 2009
Heading up the honours was the Shire of Katanning, which won two major awards – the Commitment to Participation Award and the prestigious $10,000 Minister’s Award for Industry Excellence.
The two awards recognised the shire’s implementation of a range of programs and initiatives at Katanning Leisure Centre aimed at engaging community members from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in sport and recreation.
The YMCA’s Swim for Life Program broke through the surface from a pool of impressive finalists to win the Skywest-sponsored Provision of Sport and Recreation to Regional Western Australia Award.
Other finalists in the category were the Council on the Ageing (Western Australia) Inc for its Living Longer, Living Stronger Program, and YMCA Perth’s Regional Fitness Training pilot program in the Gascoyne and Mid West regions which earned it a second finalist berth in the category.
Margaret River’s Jill Edmonds won the Fitness Australia Fitness Professional 2009 Award for her contribution to the fitness industry through the running of her own personal training studio and online business.
Triathlon Western Australia won the Major Sport and Recreation Event Award for the SunSmart Festival of Triathlon which has been run in Busselton for 26 years. The event has evolved into the largest race in the Half Ironman Series in Australia with 1988 competitors taking part this year.
The Northcliffe Visitor Centre was a finalist in the Community Event Award for its Karri Cup Mountain Bike Challenge, and the Shire of Morawa and Shire of Narembeen received special commendations in the Best Revitalisation of an Existing Facility Award category.
“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,” said Sport and Recreation Minister Terry Waldron.
“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 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 their background or where they live.”
Skywest’s contribution as a long-term supporter of sport and recreation in regional WA was also recognised with a special award on the night.
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DSR Manager of Regional Services Tim Mahon accepted the award on Skywest’s behalf.
“Skywest has been in partnership with the Department of Sport and Recreation for 14 years, and through its Country Sport Development Program enables DSR to bring sport and recreation expertise to regional WA,” Mr Mahon said.
“This year alone Skywest donated 36 flights for a range of coaches and officials to attend development activities in administration, education and planning. This support also enabled country athletes to attend talent identification and development activities, and we thank Skywest for its continuing support.”
For the full story on the awards, click on the link below:
