The team from Australian Oztag recently held a training day for a group of eager Oztaggers from Stellar Experiences, ahead of their first Oztag season.
In late March, Australian Oztag (AO) had the pleasure of meeting the team from Stellar Experiences through a skill-development training day in preparation for the upcoming Winter competition.
With the motto ‘Empowering independence. Inspiring inclusivity’, Stellar Experiences provides social, recreational and community participation opportunities for 16-35-year-olds with mild to moderate disabilities and mental health conditions.
Stellar Experiences Program Coordinator, Ryan Willis explained in a nutshell, what Stellar Experiences aim to achieve.
“We try to give our guests the same opportunities that everyone else their age has,” Willis said.
“Social outings and travel are our main focus – we want them to get out in the community, get active and make friendships along the way,” he said.
With a lot of guests who are really into their sport, Stellar reached out to Oztag and enquired about entering a team in their local Sutherland Shire competition.
“We’re always kicking a footy and running around so we thought it would be really awesome to put a team in a mainstream competition where we can play with our peers and get active,” Willis said.
“Most people grow up playing Oztag in the Shire so we thought it would be something great for our guests to do,” he said.
To prepare for the upcoming Winter season, Stellar Experiences took part in a training day with Australian Oztag to familiarise players with the game and its rules, while focusing on skill development through a variety of game-specific drills.
The Stellar team jumped off the bus full of excitement, and were quickly decked out in their new playing gear – a gift from Cronulla Oztag.
Over the course of the day, the team picked up the skills very quickly before applying what they learnt to game situation – refereed by AO General Manager, Bill Harrigan.
“I think everyone thought it was cool learning new skills; everyone knew about Oztag but not quite how it worked and the intricacies,” Willis said.
“They really loved getting to meet Bill and the rest of the team from Australian Oztag,”
“Ever since the training day, the guys have not stopped talking about Oztag,” he said.
The ‘Stellar Squad’ are set to play their first game tonight as the Sutherland Shire competition commences and are very eager according to Willis.
“They’re really looking forward to getting on the field together, having that team bond and meeting their opposition” he said.
“They’re a really social bunch so we just hope that they enjoy themselves,”
“We’ve already had a lot of other guests express their interest to play next season, so hopefully we can make it ongoing and enter a few teams in the future,” Willis said.
Stellar Experiences also have a team participating in the Wollongong competition, who played their first game last week. Despite losing by one point, players were thrilled to be on the field with their mates and meeting new people.
That’s the beauty of Oztag – it can be played and enjoyed by all ages and abilities. It is, and always has been ‘the game for everybody’.
AO wish ‘Stellar Squad’ the best of luck as they kick off tonight.
Stellar Experiences have teams based in the Sutherland Shire/Illawarra and Gold Coast regions. Head to their website to learn more.
The 2021 Junior State Cup Club Champions, Central Coast and runners up, Souths have announced the charities of which they have generously decided to donate all of their prize money.
Central Coast Oztag decided their charity of choice is Youth off the Streets, a community organisation working for disadvantaged young people who may be homeless, drug dependent and/or recovering from abuse.
Central Coast Oztag Licensee, Charmaine Ceeney disclosed why as a club, they decided to donate their winnings ($1000) to Youth off the Streets.
“Youth off the Streets is such a great organisation and our club has always prided itself on being very community focused, knowing the positive impact we have by providing young people the opportunity to play our great game,” Ceeney said.
“Our motto is Healthy Community through Sports and to be able to support an organisation like Youth off the Streets is an absolute no brainer for us,” she said.
While their donation will contribute to a wide range of services, Central Coast also wish to grant those less fortunate with the opportunity to play Oztag.
“Youth off the Streets runs Programs from Lakes College and the plan is to purchase some Oztag playing gear to provide those disadvantaged with the opportunity to play our game and perhaps see some of them eventually compete in our local competitions,” Ceeney said.
Club Champions Runners Up, Souths have also decided to donate the entirety of their prize money ($500) to Beyond Blue, an organisation that provides information and support to help all Australians achieve their best possible mental health.
Souths Junior Oztag Licensee, Leah Bell commented on what prompted their decision to support Beyond Blue.
“They are a great charity that provides support, advice and action to anyone who suffers with Mental Health,” she said.
“In this day and age, it is important that everyone feels like they are not alone and there is always someone that will listen and help you,” Bell said.
Souths are hoping this money can be put towards creating awareness around Mental Health and the resources available, particularly for today’s youth.
“I feel that when anyone is suffering with a mental illness, the main contributing factor is they feel alone and that they can’t talk about it. It would be great to create more social acceptance around Mental Health,” she said.
Lucky to get 30 kids to trial for State Cup per team, Bell is ecstatic with the club’s success at the recent tournaments, putting their achievements down to the hard work of all players and coaches.
“Our players amaze me more and more every year… They make me proud just by putting on our colours, winning is just a bonus,” Bell said.
“Our players love the game and work hard, which shows when they are out on the field,” she said.
Australian Oztag are thrilled to announce that the 2020 Trans-Tasman tournament will be going ahead in September this year.
The Australian and New Zealand travel bubble is set to open in April, giving the prestigious Trans-Tasman tournament the green light for the revised month of September, 2021.
This tournament remained a priority for Australian Oztag (AO) to ensure all players were granted the opportunity to represent their country.
It is therefore AO’s pleasure to announce the Tournament details as follows:
Date: 16th – 21st September, 2021
Venue: Pullman Park, Auckland, NZ
More details to come.
Following great anticipation, AO are ecstatic that representatives will have the opportunity to travel to New Zealand and throw on their well-earned jerseys with pride.
The 2021 Club Champions title came down to a one-point difference, with Central Coast claiming victory for a consecutive year.
Following two successful tournaments, in Coffs Harbour (12’s-17’s) and Bass Hill (9’s-11’s), Central Coast finished on 78 points, with Souths closely trailing on 77 and Baulkham Hills on 73.
Central Coast dominated the Junior State Cup tournaments after 17 of their 18 teams qualified for division one Finals across all age divisions. Eight of these teams made the Grand Final and four came away with the State Champions title.
At the Junior State Cup in Coffs Harbour, the Central Coast Girls 12’s pipped Cronulla 4-1 in the Grand Final, continuing their reign as champions for the third consecutive year.
The Boys 14’s Grand Final saw Central Coast claim a convincing 8-2 defeat over Souths, while Central Coast Girls 16’s came away with their third successive title after an exciting 3-1 win over Wollongong.
At the Junior State Cup in Bass Hill, the Boys 10’s Grand Final came down to the wire, with Central Coast defeating Baulkham Hills 5-4 in a thrilling extra time drop-off.
Girls 12’s
Boys10’s
Boys 14’s
Girls 16’s
Following on from the association’s success at the Senior State Cup in November 2020, Central Coast Licensee, Charmaine Ceeney is extremely proud of their Junior teams whose efforts were pivotal in their Club Champion victory.
“Our performances at Coffs and Bass Hill were exceptional and we are very proud of our young chargers for the efforts, knowing full well the future of Oztag on the Central Coast is very bright,” Ceeney said.
“To be named as Junior State Cup Club Champions was a reward to all our coaches, assistant coaches, team managers and admin staff who ensure the game of Oztag continues to thrive on the Central Coast,” she said.
The Club Champions accolade is a credit to the consistency of Central Coast sides across all divisions, their success put down to the people involved in their team and the club culture they foster.
“They are all passionate, fair, honest and consistent in their approach to the game of Oztag,” Ceeney said.
“There are so many representative players who have taken the time to reinvest and pass on their knowledge and experience to the young players,”
“Special mention must go to Dale Berg who oversees the Junior Representative Program, Adam Carlisle and Australian Oztag Hall of Famer David Rose for their ongoing support in not only developing junior players but also taking the time to develop and support our coaches and providing them with their knowledge and years of experience as both players and coaches,”
“We have developed an extremely strong culture within our association and that continues to grow year after year,” she said.
Central Coast are looking to continue their club-wide success at the 2021 NSW Senior State Cup in Coffs Harbour, set to kick off on Friday 14 May, with 21 teams entered across all divisions.
The Under 11’s East Hills Boys have made history, winning the Club’s first ever Division One Grand Final at the NSW Junior State Cup at Bass Hill in February.
The small association has added their first gold medal to the cabinet after the Under 11 Boys defeated reigning champions, Cronulla 4-3 in a thrilling Grand Final drop-off.
East Hills Director, Karen Smith has shared how special it was for the Under 11’s Boys come away with the Grand Final win.
“It was absolutely amazing, particularly because they came 4th in their Pool and most people would have written them off,” Smith said.
“People are still talking about it – parents, other teams and even senior teams,” she said.
The East Hills boys came off the back of a confidence-building Quarter Final win against the competitive Central Coast (5-3), before defeating hot contenders, Parramatta in a tight Semi Final (3-2).
Come the Grand Final, the boys met the two-year reigning champions, Cronulla, who beat them quite convincingly in a round game on Day 1.
The game was a spectacle for all in attendance – the back-and-forth score had everyone holding their breath and checking their watches.
With one minute on the clock, the East Hills boys shifted the ball to get over the line, leveling the score at 3-3 and sending the game in extra time drop-off.
Cronulla tapped off first, proving East Hills’ defence strong as they scrambled fiercely to keep them out. Once the changeover was called, the boys worked themselves up the field, securing their championship title with a diving try in the corner.
“It was an amazing comeback. The boys never doubted their ability to do it and I think that was a telling factor,” Smith said.
“We are all extremely proud of the team and their coaches,” she said.
Smith put the boys’ success down to the tireless efforts of their coaching staff; David Curtis and David Towers, as well as manager Todd Heslehurst.
“David Curtis and Todd have been coaching at our club for a number of years now and thoroughly deserve the result,”
“They have coached this team since they first entered as Under 8’s in the East Hills Comp, so I’m particularly pleased for them to have achieved this result,” Smith said.
As a popular talking point, the win has been fantastic for the association, Smith confident that it will encourage more teams to play at representative level.
“This year we fielded 5 teams at Coffs Harbour and 5 teams at Bass Hill. We are hoping to continue to grow at rep level thanks to our wonderful parents who volunteer to manage or coach and this result from the Under 11 Boys will certainly help us achieve this goal,” she said.
Compared to some, East Hills is a small association working to continue their growth at grassroot levels in order to develop their representative teams.
“Our Junior Comp is held on Wednesday afternoons only – we don’t have the luxury of two or three different days and large numbers to choose from for rep team,” Smith said.
“When we started Juniors we had nine teams and it quickly grew. We now have around 70 teams playing during Summer from Under 6’s to Under 16’s,” she said.
East Hills have three teams participating in division two at the 2021 Senior State Cup in May – two Mixed teams and a Men’s 20’s team.
The 2021 Junior City v Country teams have been selected following an exceptional display of talent at both Junior State Cup tournaments in Coffs Harbour and Bass Hill.
The tournament will be played on Sunday 13 June at Central Coast Regional Sporting Complex, Tuggerah NSW.
It will see the State’s best play off in a combined four regions – Southern City Seahawks, Western City Scorpions, Northern Country Knights and Southern Country Pride.
Team lists can be found HERE. Congratulations to all players selected to represent their region at the prestigious City v Country.
All players selected must confirm or decline their position to the Coach via their email at the bottom of the Team list sheet.
Registration will open Wednesday 17 March, from 12pm. Players must register & pay online by Friday April 9.
Recent Comments