Last weekend the Illawarra Academy of Sport had 63 athletes across 4 sports participate in the 2015 ClubsNSW Academy Games on the NSW Central Coast. The IAS had athletes compete in Golf, Hockey, Netball and Triathlon. The Regional Academies of Sport Incorporated (RASi) established the Academy Games in 2005 as a means of demonstrating and celebrating the wonderful talent of Academy athletes from across regional NSW, in an environment that supports high standards in competition, respect and responsibility. SIX academies from across the state battled it out in a fierce hockey competition over the weekend. Both the girls and boys competitions showcased some next level skills, and the adrenalin ran high with several injuries over the course of the weekend. There were several broken noses and a serious head injury, however, all the players involved are now all ok. The round robin tournament in both the boys and girls divisions were fiercely competitive, with each of the six academies in contention over the course of the whole weekend. The IAS Southern Phone Hockey squad were without a number of players who were on tour with the NSW Bushrangers in Japan however still managed to be competitive across the weekend. On the Saturday the boys played Northern Inland and went down 2-0, then backed up to play a very strong and the eventual winners Hunter losing that encounter 7-0. Their last match of the day was against South West Sydney which again was a tough encounter which SWSAS won 3-1. The girls had just as equally tough matches and managed to play out 3 draws against Sydney Metro (0-0), Hunter (1-1) and South West Sydney (2-2). Sunday’s matches was a mixed bag with both the boys and the girls having 1 win and 1 loss each. The boys had a rematch with Northern Inland this time narrowly going down 1-0 and in the girls game they had their only loss of the tournament to Northern Inland with the match finishing up 3-1. Both sides then played Western Sydney with the boys winning 4-1 and the girls having a 3-0 win. OVER the course of the weekend and a tough two days of competition, a merit team was selected from across all of the competing academies. The players selected in the 2015 Hockey Merit Team are as follows: Merit Team: Nicholas Chaffey (NIAS) Shay Cooper (WSAS) Patrick Everett (IAS) Kimberly Gimbert (SWSAS) Dylan Hardiman (WSAS) Elizabeth Hewish (Sydney Metro) Blake Hudson (HAS) Claudia Nielsen (NIAS) Chloe Northam (HAS) Matthew Vine (SWSAS) Jasmine Riley-Whitworth (IAS) Dylan Wilson (Sydney Metro) The final standings for both the boys and girls are as follows: Boys: 1st – Hunter Academy of Sport (HAS) 2nd – Sydney Metro 3rd – South West Sydney Academy of Sport (SWSAS) 4th – Northern Inland Academy of Sport (NIAS) 5th – Illawarra Academy of Sport (IAS) 6th – Western Sydney Academy of Sport (WSAS) Girls: 1st – Northern Inland Academy of Sport (NIAS) 2nd – Hunter Academy of Sport (HAS) 3rd – Sydney Metro 4th – Illawarra Academy of Sport (IAS) 5th – South West Sydney Academy of Sport (SWSAS) 6th – Western Sydney Academy of Sport (WSAS) A huge congratulations to Patrick and Jasmine selected in the 2015 Merit Team, and another congratulations to all of the players who exceptionally represented the IAS and showed some incredible talent over the course of the weekend. The Central Coast Academy of Sport on behalf of the Regional Academy of Sport (RASi) network would like to thank and acknwoledge the support received from the following organisations: ClubsNSW (Principal Partner), NSW Government through the Office of Sport, Gosford City Council, Wyong Shire Council, NBN Television (Media, Southern Cross Austereo (101.3 SeaFM and 107.7 2GO), Central Coast Tourism.
