Catch Me If You Can: Cronulla Sutherland’s Baseball star
EXPECT big things soon from local NSW Baseball Representative, Brock Dodd, who was a standout at the recent Under 17 World Baseball Series held in Mexico.
In what was a depleted NSW side, the 15-year-old Cronulla-Sutherland junior proved himself a force, being awarded the two most prestigious awards at the tournament, which was held for seven days and attracted countries such as the USA, Mexico, Korea, China and Japan.
Dodd, who was also captain of the side, was acknowledged as the best batter in the series picking up the highest batting average award with .628 as well as scoring the most RBI’s (Runs Batted In) with seven out of his team’s total of nine.
Playing against some of the best young teams in the world at present, the boy they call ‘Doddy’ played down his own accolades even considering they were achieved playing against such tough opponents.
Photo: Brock Dodd showing his style
“Yeah I played out of my skin, but I think everyone has a fluky tournament once in a while and I just think luck went my way this time,” he said.
The NSW side lost all five games to their much more experienced opposition but Dodd said it wasn’t due to a lack of ticker from the team.
“The boys played the best they could, but it doesn’t help when the other teams were physically a lot bigger and stronger and had been training for the last six months.”
“We only had two training sessions prior and a fair whack of our regular players were unavailable, so you could definitely see the difference.”
“The other teams had very well-drilled infielders, were more disciplined and stronger in the batting box and had speed on the bases.”
A wad of home runs were seen in the team’s first game where they went down 17-1 to Mexico Verde, and 2-1 to China Taipei, Korea 11-1, USA Alameda 6-5 and USA Fresno 7-1 in their other respective games.
The eminent World Series event is set to come to NSW after being confirmed this morning by NSW Baseball Management member, Andrew Ross.
“After participating in the prestigious World Boys Tournament held in Mexico, Baseball NSW has been elected to host the tournament in August 2008, subject to several conditions to be met by 1st October,” he said.
The tournament is set to showcase some of the best baseball to be found anywhere in the world for this age group.
By Reece Carter.
Sharks to Play National Basketball Quarter Final at home
Having won the Men’s Waratah Australian Basketball League in NSW a couple of weeks ago, the Sharks team is now in the National Quarter Finals of the Australian Basketball Association.
The Sharks will have the home court advantage as their quarter final against the Rockhampton Rockets is scheduled for 6pm on Saturday August 18 at Sutherland Basketball Stadium.
Sharks Feature in Annual Basketball Awards
Three players from the Sutherland Basketball Association have won awards at the Basketball NSW Annual Presentation Day, which was held in conjunction with the Finals Series at the Sutherland Basketball Stadium.
Sydney Kings NBL guard Cameron Tovey was selected into the Waratah Australian Basketball League (WABL) "All-Star Five" and was also the "Most Valuable Player" in the 2007 WABL grand final.
 
PHOTOS: Cameron Tovey and Guy Brandon in action for their respective teams - photos courtesy of Noel Rowsell (www.photoexcellence.com.au)
Guy Brandon was selected into the State League Men's "All-Star Five" and Danielle Pratt was selected into the Youth League Division One Women's "All-Star Five".
Sharks 18s save the day against Marconi
The Sutherland Shire Sharks had a tough round against Marconi Stallions in the Premier Youth League soccer at home on August 11.
Marconi is in the top five in all grades so challenging encounters were expected. However, the Sharks 13s in equal first spot were expected to get the home club away to a good start against their opponents who although in third spot trailed the Sharks by 13 points on the table. It was not to be, with the visitors taking the spoils 1 nil.
With Marconi, well ahead of the Sharks in the next four grades local spectators thought that their last chance for a victory on the day had passed with the 13s loss.
But to the locals delight in a very entertaining final game of the day, the seventh placed 18s scored 4 goals to Marconi's 3 to give the Sharks its first win.
Full results for the Sharks games on August 11 against Marconi Stallions at Seymour Shaw Field were:
Sharks U13 lost 1 nil
Sharks U14 lost 1 nil
Sharks U15 lost 2 nil
Sharks U16 lost 2 - 1
Sharks U18 won 4 – 3
Sutherland’s NSW Basketball Coach Honoured with Scholarship
Formerly from the Sutherland Basketball Association, New South Wales coach Michael Turton has been awarded the prestigious Basketball Australia Dr Adrian Hurley Coaching Scholarship in recognition of his contribution to development in the state.
The Dr Adrian Hurley Coaching Scholarship is rewarded to a network coach from the National Intensive Training Centre (NITC) Program each year, with the nine state-based NITC programs nominating a coach to be considered.
The scholarship is named in honour of current Basketball New South Wales President Adrian Hurley, who was the first ever head coach of the Australian Institute of Sport basketball program and was head coach of the Australian Boomers for many years.
Considered one of the doyens of Australian coaching, Dr Hurley also coached in the National Basketball League and was instrumental in the development and implementation of the National Intensive Training Centre Program.
Michael Turton is the first New South Wales coach to receive the prestigious scholarship since its inception in 2001 and was officially announced the scholarship recipient at the Australian Under 18 Championships in Launceston last month.
As part of the scholarship, Turton will spend a week at the Australian Institute of Sport, observing sessions with the men’s and women’s team, as well as meeting with coaches and visiting the strength and conditioning staff.
The scholarship provides Turton with the opportunity to work with and learn from the AIS coaches, as well as access the latest information in the areas of strength and conditioning, athlete management, nutrition and coaching methodology.
Originally from the Sutherland Basketball Association, Turton has been a NITCP network coach for eight years and was the headcoach of the NSW Metropolitan Under 18 girls’ team the last two years.
He has also worked extensively in the Basketball NSW development programs and is currently head coach of the St Aloysius’ College boys’ team in the private school competition.
NSW NITCP Head Coach Peter Lonergan said the scholarship was reward for Turton’s ongoing commitment to development in the State.
“In our sport, the name Adrian Hurley is synonymous with coaching excellence and we are pleased to have the 2007 scholarship winner come from NSW,” he said.
“Michael has shown a high level of commitment to his coaching and this will provide him with the opportunity to learn from experienced coaches and get access to the latest information in coaching methodology.
“No doubt Michael will benefit tremendously from this scholarship and pass on the knowledge he gains to both coaches and athletes in our programs,” he added.
On return from his visit to the Australian Institute of Sport, Turton will produce a report for distribution to NITCP network coaches, as well as prepare an article for production in “That’s a Foul”.
Basketball New South Wales would like to congratulate Michael on being awarded this scholarship.
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