Jacob Bell and Jy Parkinson completed for the Queensland team at the Australian School Swimming Championships in Sydney last week.  

Team Manager, Kate Thomson said Jy and Jacob were great ambassadors for Queensland.  

Jacob and Jy made finals (Top Tens) for all their individual events.  

Jy, Queensland Captain, swam outstanding times in his 100m and 200m Butterfly taking out 4th place in Australia.  

Jy was placed 5th in Australia for his 50m Butterfly and 100m Freestyle and he was 6th place for his 50m Backstroke.  

Jacob Bell swam extremely well in his 400 IM to achieve 8th place.  

Both Jy and Jacob were excited to be a part of the Qld 17 – 19-year-old 4 x 50mm Male Relay team, they both swam impressive times, and the team was placed 4th.  

Jy was the anchor in the Qld Male 13 – 19-year-old 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay.  

He swam the fastest leg of the relay which was 53.57sec and the Qld team came 5th.  Congratulations to Jy, Jacob, and Kate!!

On the weekend, Nelson Malady aged 11 years competed in the Townsville Open Water “Ship to Shore” race.  

Nelson swam 1.5km from the ferry to the Townsville Strand in an awesome time of 31min 25min.  Nelson was the 2nd junior swimmer out of the water.  Congratulations, Nelson!  

The Cannons hosted another very successful Club Night on Wednesday night.  

The Cannons presented Tora Delac and Jax Clayworth with Club Records.  

Congratulations, Tora for setting a new 25m Breaststroke record in a time of 18.61sec.  Congratulations, Jax for setting a new 100m Butterfly record in a time of 1.28.83.  

The Chocolate Awards for PBs were presented to Tora Delac and Zane Clayworth.  

Congratulations to Abi Maher, Anton Bakx, Gage Cotton, and Isaac Pisaniello for achieving Upgrade times.  A big thank you to the wonderful parents for all their support with Club Nights!

Contributed with thanks to Raylene Rasmussen.

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Jy, Jacob and Kate at the Aust School Swim Champs

Jax Clayworth with 100m Fly Record

Tora Delac Club Record Breaststroke. Photos supplied

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The Proserpine Whitsunday Brahmans U14 team are celebrating this week having beaten the Mackay Magpies in the Grand Final, coming home 2023 champions.

Coach Justin Follett has been coaching the team for the past nine years and although they undefeated last season, the team sadly lost the final.

This year, with a point to prove, the youngsters came back fighting, but it wasn’t looking good when they were beaten four times.

Despite this, they held themselves together as a team and triumphed.

“The boys deserved the win, they played ‘all out all game’ for each other,” said Justin.

“These young men bought into our game plan and executed it with precision. Everyone knew their job, and all put their shoulder to the wheel to achieve this great result.”

Lewis McDermid came up with a superb first try with his straight, hard line running and at half time it was 4 all. Captain Koby Johnson-Follett crossed the line twice in the second half and converted both tries to put us in front 16-10.

“I told the boys at half time that defence wins premierships,” said Justin.

“This sunk in, as the last 10 minutes of the game was a gruelling battle with the Magpies on our try line for 5 sets in a row.

“Our young Brahmans held them out till the full-time siren and secured the win.”

“I would like to thank all the boys for their outstanding effort, it was a thrilling game.

“The Brahmans culture is about loyalty, mateship, commitment, tenacity and unity – we are built on effort!

“These boys showed all of these attributes and more on Saturday to bring the Cup back to the Whitsundays.

“A special thank you to the support team of Russell Mau, Ros Leo, Kim Bates, Don McDermid, Mel Harsley, Matthew Court and Wes Carlson.

“We wanted to end the season with memories of a Premiership, not dreams, and we achieved that goal playing the, ‘Greatest Game of All’.

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The Under 14  Proserpine Whitsunday Brahmans wins the grand final. Photo credit: Blanchè Hunt

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As the days grow longer and spring is on our doorsteps the bowls this week has been sensational with so much news to tell.

Let’s start with Tuesday afternoon bowls saw only a small but strong field play with Wendy Pomeroy with Henny Tattam take home the prize money.

Saturday morning Scroungers saw Gary Kiff, Betty Whitehorn, Tony Whitehorn and Russell Jackson first round winners with the final playoff between Russell Jackson and Betty Whitehorn.

Sunday afternoon saw 42 bowlers.

The 7 rinks were used and play finished at 4 PM for prize giving and more stories from some of the people Nik had affected with his inspirational encouragement.

There was 3 winners named in first, second and third prize money the biggest winner of the day was an old teammate of Nik’s.

Whilst this game was played on another rink our own Manny Isgro with Harry Quad played won their pairs zone titles and are now in the last 8 to play out for the Queensland pairs champions well done boys whom also came to pay respect for our departed champion in Nik Fernbach.

Contributed with thanks to Mark Mawson.

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A lively week of bowls in Airlie Beach. Photo supplied

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A Big Winter Ending Week

Congratulations to Harry Craig and Alfie Moretto representing St Catherine's in the All Schools Cup Challenge at Pine Rivers on Wednesday and Thursday last week.  

Harry and Alfie played 9 games in this competition winning 6 to come in in 6th place out of 18 teams.  

The boys acquitted themselves with great composure throughout the event.

Even in this game where they suffered a defeat, the boys showed true resilience to continue to play their game.

On Sunday morning the Semi Finals of the 2 Bowl Triples were played.    S

hane Kinnear, Scott Hamilton and Wayne Handley defeated Kendall Watts, Gavin Noonan and Luchie Gardel 41 – 16.

Todd Leys, Jonathan Bye and Gavin Milne defeated Martin Corr, Ross Reville and Michael Kinnear 27 - 19.

Pratt Cup team has been announced for this weekend's Pratt Cup event.  

Day one is being held across four clubs with Mackay City, Sarina, Seaforth, and Wests Tigers being this year's host clubs for the first days and last year's winner Northern Beaches hosting the Semi Finals and Finals.  

Proserpine has been drawn to play Mackay City at Wests Tigers in the first round starting at 9am on Saturday, September 2 with the winner going on to play Seaforth who have a bye in the first round.  

Proserpine last won this event in 2020 and were runners up in 2021.  

Contributed with thanks to Heather Brown.

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Beryl Nosworth, Elspeth Scotford, Toni Clauss, Ann Gardel, Trish McNeill, Penny Wardroper, Phil Batty, and Pam Harrison

Logan Devery, Daniel O’Donnell, Luke Paroz, and Phil Batty

Logan Devery, Levi Holmes, and Phil Batty. Photos supplied

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Wangaratta hosted the annual Combined Shield on Saturday.

With a format of Singles, Pairs, Triples and Fours men’s teams from Wangaratta, Collinsville, BBC, and a combined Wangaratta/BBC ladies team played for the trophy.

Over the day there were a lot of great bowls played.

With three match wins and an aggregate of 65 the combined Wangaratta/BBC ladies were the victors. Wangaratta men came in second with BBC third and Collinsville fourth. Thanks to Wangaratta club and all the organisers for a great day.

BBC will host the event next year.

Winners for Monday afternoon triples E Dunn, D Bradeley, and F Farrugia defeated M Elphinstone, I Wheeler, R Stitt.

On Tuesday, winners were R Mumby, M Kilkenny, and P Warren defeated M Elphinstone, J Breakwell, and M Loughead.

Winners for our Fun Friday afternoon were L Knight, M Terry, and M Chappell defeated C Bellingham, A Learson, B Bellingham.

M Hyde, and P Madden defeated S Pearson and R Mumby.

Sunday winners came out on Rink 3. They were L Suann, R Stitt, and F Duncan who defeated J Brunt, L Knight, and J Reimann.

Club Competition: Single Sets R Stitt defeated L Wilson, G Colquhoun defeated D Wallace.

Contributed with thanks to Penny Warren.                                                                                                  

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Combined Shield Winners Wangaratta/BBC Ladies. Photo supplied

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Round 19 came to a conclusion today at the Airlie Beach Bowls Club, when Dom Friend and Art McMinn went head-to-head for the last time this season.

Dom, who picked up a bad knee injury during the week, was able to put that to one side on the day and play some strong darts.

Art too has been playing well of late, but just couldn’t get enough going consistently in the scoring department to cause Dom enough problems.

After Dom took a 5/1 lead, the writing was on the wall for Art, with Dom winning the match comfortably, 7/2.

That brings us to the 2023 finals series.

In the 1st qualifying final, we had 2nd place Joe Wilson taking on 3rd place Dom Friend. The averages were in the mid to high 50’s range in this contest, with Joe also hitting a lovely 177 along the way.

The defending champion was able to put that injury out of his mind all day to keep his chances of back-to-back titles well and truly alive.

Dom advances straight to the preliminary final in 3 weeks’ time, whereas Joe will have another crack at it in 2 weeks’ time in the Semi Finals.  

Which takes me to the next match of the day. The 1st of 2 elimination finals between Gary Robbie and Art McMinn.

Art dug deep to make a game of it, but his efforts were in vain, as he succumbed in the end to an 8/4 defeat.

The last game of the day was the 2nd elimination final between Andy Peel and Kameron Reason. Both players were evenly matched in this one, the difference being the finishing.

Andy’s had his struggles in this department all year, and his woes continued here against Kam, who finished his Premier League season strongly.

Thank you to our sponsored Mika Airlie Whitsunday Tattooing Airlie Beach and Master Butchers Whitsunday & MBW On the Barbie

Contributed with thanks to Jamie Maher.

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Gary Robbie and Art McMinn in action. Photos supplied

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The Whitsunday Game Fish Club is hosting two more free Tackle and Baitrigging Workshops and everybody is welcome to come along.  

The first is on Tuesday, 5 September at the Marine Club (home to the Whitsunday Game Fish Club and V.M.R) in Altmann Avenue, Cannonvale from 6pm.

The first workshop will deal mainly with tying good knots, making of wind-on leaders, tackle set-up, drag settings and an in-depth look at lure fishing for pelagics, such as marlin, sailfish, tuna, mackerel, GT,s etc.

A demonstration of lure types, how to rig and present them to maximise your chances of success, will also be discussed.

The second night is on Friday, 13 October (lucky Friday) at the Marine Club from 6pm.  

This Workshop will demonstrate the rigging of various baits for tempting a wide range of species as well as tackle set up and lure presentation.

The night will also include a discussion on boat handling when the big fish is being played, and proper tagging procedures as well as where and when to target them in Whitsunday waters.  

There will also be lots of helpful hints and tactics very useful to all levels of anglers.

Both evenings should not be missed by any keen fisho, including anglers planning to compete in the upcoming Ben Doolin Builders’ Light Tackle Tournament being held from 19 to 22 October.

Nomination forms for the tournament will be available at both Workshops and will soon be released on-line.  

This fun event is one of the best on the Queensland coast and will be capped this year at 30 teams, due to catering restrictions.  

WHAT: Whitsunday Game Fish Club Tackle and Baitrigging Workshop

WHERE: Whitsunday Marine Club

WHEN: Tuesday, September 5, from 6pm

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Saturday 19 August – Single stableford event sponsored by Tim Warren Auto Aircon & Electrical.  

Ladies’ winner was Joy Hose 39pts, runner up Robyn Slade 37pts.  

Men’s winner on a countback Mark Fox 41pts, runner up Adam Borgh 41pts.  

Pin shots to Jenny Healey, Ros Tilden, Claire Garrod, Ryley Malone, Andrew Need, Phil Smith.  

Sunday 20 August – 18-hole 2 ball ambrose sponsored by Bowen Gold club.  

Winners Brenden Wells & Arthur Fisk 60 nett, runners up Doug & Akeam Power 61 nett.

Saturday 26 August was the Margaret Watson Memorial Day sponsored by the Watson and Garrod families.  

Ladies’ winner Meg Garrod 44pts, 2nd Margaret Need 39pts, 3rd Grace Nott 38pts.  

Mens’s winner 43pts, 2nd Kurt Gaudry 40pts, 3rd Noel Schultz 40pts.  

drives to Vince Hargraves, Dylan Nott, Robyn Slade, Linda Scells.  

OBP’s to Penny Stewart, Meg Garrod, Colin Stewart, Graham Seaborne, and an IBP for Ernie Parker.

This was a fun day.  Thank you to the sponsors.

 Contributed with thanks to Grace Nott.

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Marg Watson Memorial

Tim Warren trophy day. Photos supplied

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2023 Club Champions were decided on the weekend.

Trish McNeill and Luke Paroz both successfully defended their titles and are the 2023 Club champions.

Congratulations to all the winners for 2023.

Ladies

Club Champion – Trish McNeill

B Grade Champion – Penny Wardroper

C Grade Champion Ann Gardel

Men

Club Champion – Luke Paroz

B Grade Champion – Daniel O’Donnell

C Grade Champion – Logan Devery

Junior Champion – Levi Holmes

Contributed with thanks to Proserpine Golf Pro Shop.

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Last Tuesday we played our belated August Monthly Medal.  

Another excellent field of 35 players which included 3 guests.

It was a lovely day weather wise.  

Our ladies winner was Tessa Aitken with 70 (a very popular win!!)

Paula McQuat 71 and Jenny Hounsell 73 on a countback from Leanne Alexander and Robyn Whitham all 73.  

For the men it was Phil Luckett with a fantastic score of 66 from Trevor Paroz 71 and Larry Muller 72 on a countback from Ray Close.

Pin shots went to Larry Muller and Phil Luckett on hole 5, Bary Mortimer and John Oates hole 9 Geoff Harrison (in the hole) and Gregg Taylor hole 16.  

Jenny Hounsell and Ray Hull hole 5 Leanne Alexander and Paula McQuat hole 9 Jenny Hounsell (in the hole) and Vickie Wallace hole 16.

Next Tuesday we will be travelling to Collinsville for the Whitsunday Veterans Comp.

Contributed with thanks to Paula McQuat.

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Tessa Aitken and Phil Luckett. Photo supplied

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This weeks 9 hole stableford competition saw Edwina Pettiford take the win with 26 pts, second with 25 pts was Moya Bradley and third with 22 pts Josh Quin.

Fridays 9-hole stableford saw Andrew Gomez in first place with 21 pts, second with 20 pts was Peter Bitz and third with 20 pts David Wallace. Great job guys.

Sunday’s monthly medal was a great turn out with Sean Fogarty taking the win with a 48 net, second saw Ryan Kenny with a 51 net c/b and third Donnivan Pettiford with a 51 net.  Nearest the pin Sean Fogarty and Aivars Paeglis who also scored a hole in one on the 7th hole, great job Aivars.

This Sunday 3rd sept 2023 will be 18 hole stableford tee off anytime.

Contributed with thanks to Whitsunday Green.

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The Marian Ladies Bowls Club hosted the Marian Master 4’s last week, culminating in an exciting grand final.  

Held on Monday August 14, with the finals on Wednesday August 16, the Masters were a testament to the ladies strength and determination.

With 16 teams, and only the top four qualifying for the semi-finals on Wednesday morning, and the grand finals on Wednesday afternoon, the competition was heated.

The winners for the Masters was Robyn Deveraux's team of Gail Meng, Val Pilcher, Dealia Walsh and Robyn Deveraux, with Lorraine Lemke, Lesley Baumgarten, Jean Zamparuti and Lorrain Silman coming close in second place.

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The winning team of Dealia Walsh, Robyn Deveraux, Katie Moohin, Gail Meng, and Val Pilcher

Jean Zamparutti, Lorraine Lemke, Katie Moohin, Lorraine Silman and Lesley Baumgarten. Photos supplied

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Schools from Mackay, Cairns, Townsville and Capricornia descended upon Harrup Park last week as it hosted the AFLQ Schools Cup North Queensland Championships.

North Queensland’s up and coming Australian rules football players from Junior, Primary and Secondary male and female divisions battled it out from August 15-16, with the six triumphant schools to compete at State Finals in Maroochydore in October.

It was the first time Mackay hosted the tournament which brought over 1,000 visitors to the region, with AFL Queensland agreeing to bring it back in 2024.

“We absolutely love coming to Mackay,” said AFL Queensland's Participation and Programs Manager - Schools, Inclusion and Diversity, Jeff Neumann

“Mackay Regional Council are great partners of us bringing it here with a really big push to have it here in 2023 and 2024.

“We want to make sure school footy is fully accessible to every student, no matter your location or your total school enrolment.

“The results are a great outcome, but the most important thing is we’re bringing all of these schools together to compete.”

Local schools Mackay West Primary School (Primary Male, Primary Female), St Patrick's College (Junior Female, Senior Female) and Moranbah State High School (Junior Male, Senior Male, Senior Female) all competed, with Moranbah being the most represented school from the region.

“For Moranbah, to have three teams, it’s a big achievement for a state high school 200 kilometres from the coast,” said Moranbah State High School Senior Male Coach Jason McKane.

“We’re a proud club, a lot of kids play footy together, and then school footy gives those kids who don’t play club footy on the weekend a chance to experience AFL and grow the game.”

Moranbah State High School’s Senior Female placed third in their division, while the Senior Male and Junior Male teams placed fourth.

“We had a lot of fun and even though we lost both our games, I reckon all the boys had fun,” said Moranbah State High School Senior Male Captain Harry Malone.

“(Moranbah) is a small club but a lot of people get around it.”

Results

Senior Female

The Cathedral College (Rockhampton) 22 def Ryan Catholic College (Townsville) 21

Senior Male

St Augustine’s College (Cairns) 77 def Chanel College (Gladstone) 23

Junior Female

St Andrew's Catholic College (Cairns) 22 def Emmaus College (Rockhampton) 11

Junior Male

St Augustine’s College (Cairns) 49 def St. Brendan's College (Yeppoon) 48

Primary Female

Farnborough State School 27 def Ryan Catholic College (Townsville) 4

Primary Male

Holy Cross (Cairns) 57 def Mackay West Primary School 0

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Photo credit: Sam Gillespie

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The Mackay Surf Life Saving Club is excited to welcome returning and new Nippers for the upcoming Nippers season, with a Sign On Day this Sunday, August 27.

Come along to the club headquarters on Mackay’s Harbour Beach from 10am to 12pm this Sunday and learn the lifesaving sport of Nippers.

With a series of ‘come and try’ days scheduled for September, this is a great chance to meet the crew and get all the information you need.

Complete with surf education, fitness, and beach skills, these ‘come and try’ mornings are a fantastic chance to give it a go, with the club providing stinger suits, boards, and every other piece of equipment.

“We had a really fun season last year, it was great to see our nippers grow not only in numbers but also in their individual confidence in the surf and with learning about being a lifesaver,” said Josh Grant, Director of Surf Sports.

“Our parent helpers are fantastic as well, getting involved with their children and building our club culture.  It really is a family oriented and welcoming sport.”

For more information about Nippers, contact the Lexie Schiffer, the Junior Activity Coordinator, on juniors@mackayslsc.com.au

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Nippers brings confidence, teamwork and mateship to your children

Mackay Nippers are small in numbers but usually dominate when taking on big clubs.  Harry Madden (front) in the process of taking out the U10 Beach Flags at last year’s Branch Championships. Photos supplied.

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Cape Hillsborough will be a sea of sails when Mackay’s Central Queensland Blokart Club (CQBC) holds its annual regatta from September 8 to 10.

Returning to the sandy flats for the 15th year, the CQBC Annual Cape Hillsborough Regatta has become the second biggest blokarting event in Australia, welcoming competitors from Victoria, southeast Queensland, Capricornia, Whitsundays and north Queensland.

With strong links to sailing, blokarting is a rapidly growing sport that involves maneuvering a wind-powered, three-wheeled kart along the hard, sandy expanses of the beach, following similar rules and format to yacht racing.

CQBC President and Founder David Moore grew up sailing yachts in New Zealand and discovered the sport after moving to Mackay and working in waterskiing and catamaran sailing on Brampton Island.

“It’s my love of sailing that put me there,” Mr Moore said.

“As I got older, I was getting a little bit old for getting out on these high-speed yachts.

“Blokarting is what we call armchair sailing; you’re sitting in a seat with a seat belt and helmet on.

“You’ll find a lot of blokarters are retired people because you can still do your sailing, but you can do it without wearing yourself out with old age.”

Competitors will race two configurations of kart - production class and performance class - across four weight divisions for each configuration.

16 races will be held over the weekend, with an accumulation of points to determine the champions.

Operating under Marine Park Permits and Public Liability Insurance, Mr Moore encouraged the public to come along and have a look as he aims to get more people involved in the club.

“The public can bring a chair with them, sit under a gazebo, watch us silly buggers run around the track, be in the shade and have a day out,” he said.

There will also be a sausage sizzle and cold drinks available for purchase, with all money raised going back into the club.

Local blokarters will then travel to Yeppoon in February 2024 where National Titles are being held.

WHAT: CQBC 15th Annual Cape Hillsborough Regatta

WHEN: September 8 to 10

WHERE: Cape Hillsborough

This is a free event.

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David Moore founded the Central Queensland Blokart Club 18 years ago. Photo supplied

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