A Decade of Club Success

by Chelsea Cryer | May 15, 2023 | Latest News, NSW Oztag

Central Coast Oztag have secured their spot in the history books after being crowned NSW Senior Club Champions for the tenth consecutive year.

Since 2014, Central Coast Oztag (CCO) have claimed the NSW Club Champions title following the success of their teams at the Senior State Championships.

At the 2023 Senior State Cup, CCO had 12 teams qualify for Quarter Finals. Of these, eight progressed to Semis & four to the Grand Final, of which three took home gold.

Having competed in the 40s division, the Central Coast Women’s 50s were awarded gold in their respective age bracket – making it four championship titles for the club.

The club finished on 67 points, ahead of Penrith (62) and Souths (59).

CCO Licensee, Charmaine Ceeney is extremely proud of the club’s success, commending all those involved over the years.

“To achieve ten years as Club Champions, particularly with the increase in the competitiveness of the different divisions, is a credit to our coaching staff and players, not to mention the families involved too,” she said.

“We could not be prouder and more indebted to our players, many up there with the best in Australia and our coaching staff who give back to our Juniors lead by Dale Berg, Adam Carlisle and Dave Rose… Central Coast Oztag are lucky to have them as they are fantastic mentors within our sporting communities,”

When asked what has strengthened their senior teams over the years, Ceeney gave credit to the players’ willingness to give back to the junior program – to develop those coming through the ranks and foster their love for the game.

“We have had great success with a lot of players selected to represent at the highest level and are able to share the knowledge and experience with our junior teams,” Ceeney said.

 “Some players then transition into the Senior program with up to ten years’ experience being coached by the best players in the game,”

“Junior players also have access to the Senior teams training, mostly done at the same venue on weekdays and weekends,” she said.

Many of CCO’s players and coaching staff also help at local competitions – as referees, competition managers or administration.

Ceeney is extremely proud of the culture instilled in the club. With the motto, ‘Healthy Communities through Sport’, Ceeney is confident that the social aspect of the game has largely contributed to the incredible club culture at CCO.

“Our players have developed the club culture over the past twenty to thirty years… For us, it is a great opportunity to continue to develop social connections within the community,” she said.

“Each week, we have our teams playing each other at training… These matches are generally very competitive and helps with players transitioning between teams as well,”

“We do have a great feel around families all being involved too – it’s not uncommon to see whole families come down to training sessions or tournaments and seeing the children playing their own games on the side,”

“There are not too many sports that can have this social aspect and is a credit to what Perry has created… Having the opportunity to play into your 50s and 60s, is something not too many players in other sports have the opportunity to do,” Ceeney said.

Congratulations Central Coast Oztag on such a milestone achievement – a decade of club success at a senior representative level.

NSW Oztag, Proud Partner of the 2023 Shoosh For Kids Campaign

by Chelsea Cryer | May 8, 2023 | Latest News, NSW Oztag

For the month of May, NSW Oztag will work with the NSW Office of Sport to promote positive spectator behaviour through the 2023 Shoosh for Kids campaign.

The Shoosh for Kids campaign is a government initiative that aims to promote positive sideline behaviour at all junior sporting events across New South Wales (NSW).

The key message remains – if you don’t have anything nice to say, shoosh for kids.

The collaborative effort between NSW Oztag and the Office of Sport encourages parents, coaches, and spectators to “shoosh” negative comments at all Oztag events – from grassroot to representative levels.

Both Australian Oztag (AO) and NSW Oztag take a strong stance on poor spectator behaviour, in line with the game’s official Code of Conduct policies.

NSW Oztag Development Officer, Luke Manahan strongly advocates for the Shoosh for Kids campaign and knows the importance of making sport a safe, fun and inclusive experience for kids.

“I strongly encourage our Junior Oztag Associations to get behind this initiative and show their communities where they stand on poor spectator behaviour,” Manahan said.

“As junior sport continues to grow it is important that we create a safe and supportive environment for children to participate in sport,” he said.

Manahan encourages the Oztag community to keep their sideline behaviour positive, and make sport fun – on and off the field, to ensure kids keep coming back to junior sport.

“By raising awareness and encouraging positive behaviours from parents and spectators, we can ensure that the children leave having had a positive experience and want to return,” he said.

To help foster a fun sporting environment at your local competition, register your club HERE and access the range of FREE digital resources to use across your social channels, website, or as posters at your venues.

As junior sport gets underway again this week, NSW Oztag encourages everybody to ‘think before they speak’ – supporting players, coaches, referees and volunteers in a positive way.

For more information on the 2023 Shoosh for Kids campaign, visit the Office of Sport.

#ShooshForKids

Bears Breakthrough: Northern Sydney Oztag first Junior Rep team

by Chelsea Cryer | Apr 20, 2023 | Latest News, NSW Oztag

The Northern Sydney Bears Boys 16s were the association’s first ever junior representative side to compete at the NSW State Championships.

In February, Northern Sydney Oztag (NSO) were represented at the Junior State Cup for the very first time – the inaugural team competing in the Boys 16s division.

With no current Junior competition in Northern Sydney, this group of boys have been competing in the Senior Men’s division, of which they prove to consistently hold their own.

When representative interest surfaced, NSO were quick to get the ball rolling – knowing well, the talent among this Northern Sydney Bears side. 

As coach, Tim Beitsch loved watching the group gel and recognise their potential with every game.

“It was a great experience seeing the team come together and realise they could be competitive against some of the best teams in NSW,” he said.

In the lead up to the tournament, the team focused on strengthening their defence in the middle – knowing their attack would take shape off the back of good “D” sets.

“We tried to make other teams beat us rather than allow easy tries through the centre of the field… We knew our attack would look after itself,” Beitsch said.

“It was good to see some of the more fancied teams get frustrated by our defence and tenacity,” he said.

Heading to Coffs Harbour, the team had a goal – to be competitive in every game and win at least one. So, watching the boys achieve just that made their coach extremely proud.

“A lot of the boys had played with other teams with little or no success in the past, which meant any victory would mean the tournament was a success,” Beitsch said.

“Having our first win and watching the boys enjoy the tournament together as a team – on and off the field made me most proud,” he said.

Not only did the team stay together for the duration of the tournament, but many of them are mates outside of Oztag – which Beitsch believes played a big part in how they gelled on the field. 

“A lot of the boys have played league together for years and go to school with each other which meant they have strong bonds… This transferred to the way they played together – good support play and good communication in defence,” he said.

NSO Association Coordinator, Luke Manahan said he was thrilled to send their first Junior representative team to State Cup.

“It was incredible to see the boys rep the orange, blue and white… they did us very proud,” he said.

Manahan hopes to introduce a Northern Sydney Junior competition in 2023 and plans to develop the Juniors at both a local and representative level moving forward.

“There is a demand for Juniors in the area, so I’d love to see the competition kick off with good competitive numbers,” Manahan said.

“From there I would hope to see more teams represented at State Cup… Further to that we could have a strong Northern Suburbs Region at Nationals with Northern Beaches Oztag on the rise,” he said.

Northern Sydney Oztag’s Senior Winter comp kicks off April 24 at Forsyth Park, Neutral Bay. The competition will be played on Monday nights, for both Men’s and Mixed divisions. For more details or to register, head to NSO website or Facebook page.

Baulkham Hills Girls 16s make history winning 7 in a row

by Chelsea Cryer | Apr 13, 2023 | Latest News, NSW Oztag

The Baulkham Hills Girls 16s made history at the 2023 NSW Junior State Cup in February, as the first junior team to win seven consecutive State Championships.

The Baulkham Hills Girls 16s have won back-to-back state championships since Under 10s in 2017.

It is no easy feat winning seven consecutive titles, however, take a group of young, tenacious players who are committed to each other, and you will create one of the most entertaining teams to watch.

Coach, Ben Ellis could not be prouder of his team – putting this incredible achievement down to their unwavering determination and work ethic.  

“I’ve never met a group of girls collectively who have a willingness to train like they do,” Ellis said.

“Early on we had a group of girls that weren’t as skillful as a lot of teams we’d come up against, so we identified that for us to be successful we had to outwork everyone… Then we could just slowly chip away at increasing their skill sets,” he said.

Of the 16 players in the 2023 State Cup team, there are four girls who have been a part of all seven championships – Waiaria Ellis, Nadelle Harrison, Aaliyah Soufan and Georgia Bezzina, with many others having played in five or six.

Over the years, Ellis has always stressed the importance of a healthy team culture and is confident that the one they’ve created is the biggest reason for their success.

“We always keep reiterating to the girls that comps are not won on the field, they’re won off it,” he said.

“We just try and create an environment where all the girls get along and enjoy each other’s company… From there I feel playing the game is easy,”

“I think the Whanau (Family) environment we’ve tried to create has really helped,” he said.

From a young age the girls adopted a rugby league-like game style that quickly separated them from other teams.

“When we took over, we were just there as parents of a team that needed a coach – we didn’t have much experience ourselves in the game of Oztag so we could only really coach them with what we knew,” Ellis said.

“We just started coaching them like footy… We wanted our girls to play a style of Oztag that replicated rugby league,” he said.

Watching this bunch of girls develop over the years into the players they are today has been extremely special for Ellis.

“It’s the reason we coach… To hopefully have an impact on the girls whether it’s big or small,” he said.

“You don’t really have a lot of time to reflect on it, but to think we’ve had some of these girls from 9 years old… when honestly it was like watching paint dry – running around in each other’s pockets, no passing, just one out runs… To now, not needing any structure, playing free flowing tag, running plays, it’s honestly awesome to watch,”

“The best thing about it though, is watching them grow from little girls, into awesome young ladies – I think that tops everything,” he said.

Ellis praised the efforts of parents and believes their commitment over the years has played a big part in the consistency of the team.

“We’ve had a core group of girls play a lot of these tournaments, and I think the commitment the parents make, to make sure everything runs smoothly is overshadowed,” he said.

“We ask a lot from the players as we prepare for these tournaments but we also ask a lot more from the parents…  The financial burden is the biggest part,”

“As a parent myself I understand how much these tournaments cost, so without the help and commitment from all our parents over the years, we definitely couldn’t have been so consistent,” he said.

With daughter Waiaria in the team, the championship wins have been even more special for Ellis – sharing moments of success and watching her grow along the way.

“Yes, it’s been very special… To me though, what’s more special is watching her grow and develop as a player and person, with her friends, having fun and playing a sport they love,”

“Having a little bit of success along the way, and being able to share that with her and her teammates is the icing,” he said.

In addition to the team’s state-level success, majority of this Baulkham Hills side represent the West Sydney Tigers at the Australian Championships.

In October, the girls will return to Coffs Harbour in hope of re-claiming the National title for the fifth year running.