The Central Coast Academy of Sport (CCAS) athletes put on an absolutely incredible spectacle of sporting finesse as they competed in the ClubsNSW Academy Games over the course of the weekend.
The CCAS had athletes competing in five (5) different sports, including basketball, netball, golf, triathlon and surfing, with each event hotly contested by all of the CCAS competitors.
The basketball competition saw both of the girls and boys divisions come away with bronze medals. The competition was full of tough battles and a sea of academies that came ready to put on a good show and were determined to win.
The CCAS girls fought hard in the semi-final, but unfortunately were just squeezed out by the Western Region Academy of Sport (WRAS).
Evie Nicol, the girls team captain, was also named in the All Star 5’s team, which is an incredible achievement for both Evie and the academy.
The boys were also unlucky in their quest for gold, when they lost to Hunter Academy of Sport (HAS) in the semi-finals, a team they had beaten just an hour earlier. However, it certainly wasn’t from a lack of dedication and commitment, as the CCAS boys played some amazing basketball throughout the game.
It is an incredible effort to have both of our basketball teams coming away with bronze medals at the close of the competition and we are incredibly proud of the skills, talent, dedication and sportsmanship that they conducted themselves with over the course of the weekend.
In the golf, the CCAS boys looked to be fierce competitors in the Ambrose event, taking second position at the close of the weekend. The boys, Curtis Larnach, Dylan Grogen, Jye Crowe and Liam Gocher put on an incredible display of skills and discipline as they made their way around the courses at both Peats Ridge and Magenta Shores over the three day event. Proving to be incredibly tough competitors against the rest of the field as they came away in second position.
A special mention also goes to Jye Crowe and Dylan Grogen who came first and second in the individual Nett results. They were up with some fierce competition from the Western Sydney Academy of Sport (WSAS) in particular, showing composure under stress and came away with some incredible results that all the CCAS players should be proud of.
In the triathlon event, we were lucky enough to have a single competitor from CCAS, Sunny Starr-Carusi, who competed in the youth girls event. Sunny managed to take second place in the triathlon event, closing out some strong competitors from several other academies. This is an incredible result, and is evidence of Sunny’s strong determination and commitment.
As always, the netball is a hotly contested tournament in the ClubsNSW Academy Games weekend. This year the development weekend was full of exceptional talent, with both CCAS teams in Division 1 and 2 showing incredible skills and rivalling all academies that played on the weekend.
The girls displayed not only enormous talent, but awesome teamwork and skills that can only be derived from commitment, training and consistent development. There was an incredible display of elite-level netball played over the two days.
The CCAS was also fortunate to have two girls nominated as MVPs from both Division 1 and 2. With Jazmyn Rodwell and Erin McManus-Murphy nominated as the Most Valued Players from the CCAS teams.
As always, our netball competition could never go ahead if it weren’t for the incredible skills of the umpires at these tournaments. We were lucky to have three umpires from our CCAS netball program take to the court and display incredible composure and skill as they orchestrated many of the games over the two days. A big congratulations to Mia Dettmer, Sharmila Schumacher and Samara Watson who represented the CCAS netball umpires program with diligence and professionalism.
A huge thank you goes out to Casey Judge, our current assistant coach who took the Division 1 side on the weekend, and to Jess Morgan, the current Central Coast Heart coach, who took the Division 2 girls. Robert Wright, NSW Swifts coach, also made an appearance on the weekend offering the CCAS girls some great tips and advice to add to their games.
For the first time this year, a surfing exhibition was also included in the ClubsNSW Academy Games. The exhibition saw a fierce day of competition from CCAS and HAS in a three round tag-team event. As the CCAS boys and girls took to the water, they had a big task ahead of them, competing against an older HAS team. Coming into the final round, it looked like HAS pulled away, but the CCAS boys and girls pulled it back to within mere points with only minutes to go. Unfortunately, the CCAS team just missed out on the win, with HAS taking the defeat.
However, this was not a reflection of the skills and talent that was displayed in the water, with all of the CCAS athletes pulling some awesome waves, especially under pressure with only 5 minutes per round for each athlete to showcase their best skills.
As always, the ClubsNSW Academy Games is a weekend to show some of the incredible skills and talent of athletes from Regional Academies across NSW. This year was no different, with the CCAS really stepping up to the plate and not only rivalling all competing academies, but putting on an incredible display of teamwork and development.
We offer a huge congratulations to all of out athletes that competed over the weekend and are absolutely thrilled with all of the results and achievements that our athletes made.
The Central Coast Academy of Sport would like to thank and acknowledge the support received from the following Business Partners:
NSW Government, the University of Newcastle, Mingara Recreation Club, The Greater Building Society, NBN Television, Oddball Marketing, Southern Cross Austereo (101.3 Sea FM and 107.7 2GO), Gosford City Council and Wyong Shire Council.
