In front of a crowd of over 160 people, Horsham Cyclist Mark O’Brien was crowned the Horsham Sports and Community Club’s Sports Star for 2009 at a presentation dinner held at the Horsham Sports & Community Club on Monday, February 15th, 2010.

O’Brien’s dream of making it into an Australian team came true when he pulled on the green and gold and competed in the Under 23 world championships in Switzerland, and was the first Australian home in 28th position in the gruelling event. O’Brien was a silver medallist at the National Titles, 10th in the Elite Australian Championships, 5th in the “Ambacht Kermesse” in Holland, 25th in the Tour Of Ireland, where he met his idol Lance Armstrong.

Alethea has only been involved in smallbore shooting for two years.  Competing in events for air, prone and sport rifle, Alethea has proved her prowess by taking out events locally and at Shepparton, Nurmurkah and the Australian International Shooting’s Youth Olympics in Sydney last year.  This year she has recorded victories in the 2009 Victorian State Championships, the Auscup National Competition and the Target Rifle Australia National Championships in the sub junior division.  Latest results from the Nationals place her as the Australian Sub Junior Champion for the 50m Prone rifle, the 50m 3 Position 20 Sport Rifle and the 10m air rifle and the bronze medallist in the Open Women’s Air Rifle. Her results have prompted the national coaches to offer her additional training and assistance which she has taken up and while still aged in the sub-junior category.  She has a real focus on her sport and would love to shoot for her country at the Olympics if the opportunity should present itself.

Tylers Hardware & Rural Supplies: VETERAN OF THE YEAR - Rex and Betty Cozens (Bowls)

Barham Insurance Agencies P/L: UNSUNG HERO OF THE YEAR - Roger MacInnes (Laharum Sports Inc.)

When you think Laharum Sports there is only one person that comes to mind – and that would be Roger MacInnes. After a decorated career in football and cricket, Roger has turned his hand to sports training and goes about his job without fuss or fanfare. He takes the role seriously always making the most of extra sports training opportunities available in the region. Many players feel confident they are well looked after by Roger, and a follow up phone call after injury is never too far away. Roger’s loyalty, passion and commitment to Laharum Sports spans over 40 years.

Ross Both & Associates: SCHOOL OF THE YEAR - Horsham 298 Primary School

Horsham 298 Primary School is very proud of a wide variety of sporting opportunities available to its students from recreational and personal health promotion with physical education lessons, Jump Rope for Heart, Relay for Life, Go for Your Life promotions, Ride to School and Walk to School Days to a variety of organised School, District, Zone, Regional and State Competitions. During 2009 many students represented Horsham 298 School and the Wimmera Zone at regional championships in athletics, badminton, basketball, cricket, cross-country, football, golf, netball, swimming and tennis. From these regional championships several individuals and teams progressed to the VPSSA State Championships in Athletics, Basketball, Cross Country and Swimming. The Horsham 298 Year 3 and 4 Hooptime team competed at Werribee in December 2009 with great enthusiasm and sporting behaviour proudly playing off in the consolation final after excellent efforts in the preliminary games including a draw and narrow defeat which caused them to miss out on the Grand Final play off. The school applauds all those students who competed at Regional and State levels and their supportive adults who allowed them to represent the school and the Wimmera with distinction.

A driving force behind the South West Indigenous Cricket Association and participated at Willowfest where Sandy received the honor of being named in the team of the carnival and won the team’s allrounder and batting awards.
Alongside Sandy, Robbie too is one of the key players in the South West Indigenous Cricket Association and also participated at Willowfest where he was named in the team of the carnival and was selected in the Victorian team to compete at the Imparja Cup.

The Horsham Volleyball Association is a good case model of an Association that is all inclusive. Not only do they cater for their elite players – having 5 state reps in 2009, but the Association gives opportunities to players of all abilities. The Association staged a successful Celebrity Challenge Charity Match which raised funds for Horsham Chaplaincy and Salvation Army Youth Services, instituted a membership card with discounts to local businesses, was successful in obtaining grants, sponsorships and in kind support from local and Melbourne businesses. The support for the Horsham College Volleyball Program continues, and the partnerships established with local businesses continues to flourish.

A year 12 student at St Brigid’s Nathan volunteered to be Horsham College U16 boys referee at the National Schools Cup, where he undertook all the first referee duties in six matches. Nathan also helped coach the team, passing on his experience to the young setters in the team. A classic example of sportsmanship, for one so young, from one school to another.

Two of the driving forces behind the success of little athletics in Horsham. Both coaches give freely of their time to coach twice a week at the Little Aths Centre, and when the need arises give time to athletes who are looking for specialist coaching. In the past 12 months 16 athletes from the Centre have made it to State Championships, with a number of them achieving statewide recognition.

Jannik has had a fantastic year playing Wheelchair Basketball. He is a key player in the National Wheelchair Basketball League with the Dandenong Rangers. His finest achievement was representing Australia in the U/23 World Championships in France in July. Jannik was the youngest player in the team only being seventeen during the tournament playing against opponents five years older than him. The Australian team finished fourth overall coming agonisingly close to winning a bronze medal by losing to Sweden by just one point. Jannik recently was selected in the National team again to play in the World Championship qualifying tournament in Melbourne where he won a gold. Jannik has had tremendous success this year personally, representing Victoria U20 at Youth Games and being named in the All Star 5 for the National League and being named the Dandenong Rangers Best Defender for the season.

David has been a long time boundary umpire in the Wimmera League. David has recently joined the Wimmera Umpires Association, and has improved immensely to the point where he was one of the officiating boundary umpires in the 2009 Wimmera League grand final.

Has been president of the Horsham Squash Club for the last 3 years, and committee member for 5 years prior to that. Organises each competitions draw, grading list & member information and produces a booklet for each member. Has been heavily involved with starting a junior competition, recruiting members, and coaching which has seen this competition increase in numbers dramatically over the last 12 months. Launa’s time doesn’t end there, as she does the same for the Horsham Hockey Club, organising Come and Try days and encouraging juniors to get involved.

McDonald has been to the forefront of junior tennis in the Wimmera for the past 3 years, and has represented the region at the Ambassadors Cup and Fitzgerald Cup. It was at this latter event that McDonald was selected to represent Victorian Country at the upcoming Sydney International in January, after recording some strong wins in both singles and doubles.  McDonald was also a member of the Edenhope College team that won through to the VSSSA state tennis finals. McDonald is highly regarded in state tennis circles, and is a member of the Tennis Victoria Advantage Program the past 12 months.