Three Maribyrnong representatives are among the finalists for the 2024 Victorian Sport Awards (VSAs) announced on March 26.
A council program, a local netball club and a basketball administrator were among the finalists chosen from a record 330 nominations for 18 different categories for the VSA’s which celebrate sporting achievements at both a grassroots and high- performance level.
They join individual and team athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers, administrators, media personnel and initiatives that promoted participation as being named finalists, as well as sportspeople who shone at events such as the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.
Maribyrnong council’s six week Go Family program, which encouraged parents and their children to play soccer together, has been nominated for the Local Government Initiative of the Year award.
West Footscray’s Rise Netball Club, which plays at the indoor courts at Whitten Oval, is up for the Love the Game Community Sporting Club of the Year award.
And vice-president of the Westgate Basketball Association in Yarraville, Sarah Simpson, has been nominated for the Eunice Gill Award for Victorian Sports Administrator of the Year.
If Simpson is successful, it will be her second major award in the space of six months after being named Basketball Victoria’s administrator of the year last November.
Four-time Olympian Steve Moneghetti AM OLY, former netball star Sharelle McMahon and Australian 110m Hurdles record holder Kyle Van Der Kuyp were among the judges who chose the finalists and who will also choose the winners of the VSA’s, to be announced at the MCG on May 14.
Cade Lucas.
