Sport

The Repco Supercars championship returns to The Bend (July 29 – 31) with event organisers promising the biggest weekend of racing and entertainment yet in the OTR Supersprint’s five-year history. The jam-packed, three-day event is South Australia’s largest ticketed regional sporting event with all ticket holders getting paddock access to enjoy the once in a lifetime experience.

Wayne Winchester’s love of surfing began in his early teens and he’d live for the weekends when he could head to the coast to spend hours in the surf. He never dreamed that his hobby would lead to a lifetime career and the creation of a world class surfboard gallery. “I started fashioning my own boards when I was a teenager and I then started making them professionally in the mid 1970s,” Wayne says. “It was an exciting time as I shaped all sorts of boards just to see how they performed.”

Set on 22 acres in Shelbourne, Equine Healing Centre Bendigo was established in 2019, as a place to help people to recover from trauma or for those suffering from emotional and physical burnout to practice restorative self-care, through experiential learning. Owner, Tracey Kenny-Dive, studied at the Equine Psychotherapy Institute in Daylesford as an accredited Equine Assisted Learning Practitioner.

After a two year wait the Laura Geitz Statuette was finally unveiled on Saturday with the help of Tracy Dobie who was Mayor in 2020. A gust of wind arrived just as the unveiling was about to happen, hence the fun photo. The super coach and local Allora hero Wayne Bennett sat by in his comfortable arm chair.

Gary Hoey. Blessed with fine sunny weather for a change, The Downs Polo Club hosted the annual Cooke O’Leary carnival which has been running since the year 2000. The fields were in tremendous condition thanks to a joint effort between the club and Rec Reserve groundsman, Bruce Gilbert ... After a tremendous Match going into extra time the winning A Grade team was Downs Webster Cavanagh ... Champion A Grade pony was awarded to James Hoey’s “Polly”.

Samuel Davis. Pacing across treasured destinations isn't anything unusual for distance runner Jamie Candler. But for some reason, every euphoric stride through Yarraden Nature Refuge felt unlike any trundle he'd been on before ... the mad dash between the remote communities was just a small part of a monumental 1000km journey for the Cairns-based youth worker.

Horses are in Ruth Pattie’s blood and her love for equines has blossomed into a full time, not-for-profit sanctuary. Along with her husband Marty and their six daughters, Mrs Pattie runs the Helenvale Horse Sanctuary and Therapeutic Centre at their property near Kalkajaka National Park, half an hour from Cooktown ... The sanctuary currently has 14 horses, most of them elderly, who found their way from all over Far North Queensland.

Five new state junior  surfing champions have been crowned in Geraldton over the  weekend, as the final event of the 2022 Woolworths State Junior Surfing Titles presented by SunSmart, wrapped up yesterday in clean and contestable wavs at Back Beach.

Mount Rascal resident Tom Campbell is off to Perth this weekend as part of the Queensland Under 21 team to contest the National Under 21 Hockey Tournament. It’s a great feat for any local player to be included in a State team, but Tom’s selection is even more impressive when you consider that he is just 16 years of age. He is the youngest member of the Queensland team.

Patricia Gill. The Denmark Environment Centre is lobbying to block the building of a network of nine mountain bike trails in 68ha of Mt Hallowell’s lower south eastern slopes ... Speaking on behalf of DEC, Murdoch University sustainability lecturer Nicole Hodgson says the high physical impact of building mountain bike trails is not compatible with sustaining the conservation and cultural values of a precious Class A Reserve.

Kendall Jennings. Koondrook teenager, Alethea D’Silva, has been selected for an inaugural under 14 girls football development game against Sunraysia at Tooleybuc on Sunday, August 7 ... a great discussion about what Alethea has overcome to play any sport with girls' participation low.

You can be a part of this history making event at the Allora Sports Museum from 11.30am. Laura Geitz and Wayne Bennett will officially open the park that has been dedicated to them.

Hepburn Shire Council is working in partnership with the City of Ballarat on advocating for a mountain biking program to be included in the 2026 Commonwealth Games and for competition to be held at the Creswick Trails. With this week’s State Government announcement that the games will be held between the 17-29 March 2026 both Councils are calling for both Mountain Biking to be included in the Victoria 2026 program, the Commonwealth’s first Regional Games and for the Mountain Biking program to be conducted at the Creswick Trails.  

Shire of Gingin residents disappointed with the council’s decision to not re-establish a working group to undertake a review of the Upper Coastal sporting facilities master plan say they are now looking at the options available to them. A petition with 376 signatures was presented to the council and 21 people including Lancelin Community and Sporting Club president Norm Skoglund as well as golf, bowling, hockey and netball representatives attended the shire’s June 21 ordinary meeting in the hope councillor Frank Peczka’s motion on the issue would be successful.

Vandals have struck again, this time breaking into the Tennant Creek Speedway Club’s canteen and causing tens of thousands of dollars of damage by destroying doors and locks, smashing fridges, electrical boxes and bain maries and tipping bins over ... The not for profit club survives on entry nominations and fundraising with some support by grants.

Narrandera is playing a huge part in the fresh water fish stocking season. NSW Department of Primary Industries is in the final stages of the 2021/2022 fish stocking season, which has so far seen more than 4.8 million fish, produced at NSW DPI hatcheries, released throughout the state.

A large number of Murray Cod have been relocated from irrigation channels in the Wakool area, thanks to collaboration between numerous individuals and organisations ... At the end of the irrigation season, it is common for native fish to be left stranded in pools of water behind channel gates and irrigation syphons, and unfortunately, they perish.

Sunraysia is about to play host to the region’s largest annual event, the Hattah Desert Race, attracting competitors and support crews from the length and breadth of the country ... “The Hattah Desert Race is an absolute juggernaut in terms of major events, this year attracting 465 senior riders and 360 juniors that’s well over 800 in total,” Cr Eckel said.

A campaign has been launched to make an iconic Cape York bird the face of the Brisbane Olympics in 2032. The endangered palm cockatoo has been nominated by Birds Queensland as the mascot of the 2032 Games.

Cape York Peninsula’s biggest annual event, the Laura rodeo and races, roared back to life over the weekend. The tiny town of Laura, with a normal population of 200, swelled to around 3000 as thousands came from far and wide to be a part of what was once an annual event.

Australia and England will play for a new trophy when the two nations face off in next month’s eToro England Series; the Ella-Mobbs Cup named after two iconic Rugby figures from each nation. Mark Ella is a Wallabies legend. The first indigenous Captain of the Wallabies, the Fly Half is widely regarded as one of the most naturally gifted players in Australian Rugby history.  

Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) will look at alternative route opportunities for mountain biking along the escarpment rather than progressing with plans to build trails in Redwood Park ... “There is a huge opportunity to grow mountain biking in our Region. We want to develop a bike trail network of up to 100kms to make our Region a destination that draws tourists from all across Australia, as well as international riders but it’s important we get the balance right" : Cr Tim McMahon.