Sutherland Sharks under 15s stand out in Premier Youth League Soccer

The Sutherland Sharks under 15 team was the only local winner against Sydney United in round 4 of the Premier Youth League last Saturday. The 15s won 2 - 1 in a hard fought match while the 13s and 16s were next best with draws.

Full results for the round’s games against Sydney United were as follows.

Under 13: Sutherland Sharks drew nil all
Under 14: Sutherland Sharks lost 2 - 1
Under 15: Sutherland Sharks won 2 - 1
Under 16: Sutherland Sharks drew 1 all
Under 18: Sutherland Sharks lost 2 -1

Next Saturday March 28, the Sutherland Sharks Premier Youth League teams travel to Elizabeth Park Bellambi to take on Wollongong beginning with the under 13s at 9am.

Other Sutherland Sharks Premier Youth League Reports can be found at: http://theshire.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=3476

More details on the Premier Youth and Senior League results can be found at http://www.soccernsw.com.au/index.php?id=78

Parkes joins Aussie team, Timms in final of Australian Swim Champs

Twenty year old Stephen Parkes, former Sutherland Leisure Centre (SLC Aquadot) swimmer has become one of ten rookies selected in the 41 strong Australian Swimming team for the Rome world championships. He qualified for the team by winning the 400m Individual Medley (IM) event at the Australian Swimming Championships held last week. He won in 4:18.64 by nearly 3.5 secs ahead of Fraser-Holmes and Declan Potts. 

Parkes moved to St Peters Western club in Queensland last year to join its specialist squad which includes Olympic IM champion Stephanie Rice. He also came third in the 200m IM behind Leith Brodie (1:59.73) and Tom D’Orsonga (2:01.43). Parkes time was 2:01.56.

18 year old Callum Timms of SLC Aquadot came 6th in the 200m butterfly won by Nick D’arcy on the first night of the championships.

This year’s Australian Swimming Championships were also the selection trials for the World Swimming Championships to be held in Rome in July this year.

For the Australian World Championship team selected after these Australian championships go to: http://www.clubsonline.com.au/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_main&NewsID=7497&orgid=2075

What happened in Lahore – Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakarra’s account

Family friend Raj S. Sivananthan has asked that everyone feel free to share Kumar's account below with other cricket lovers the world over who might want to know firsthand what happened in Lahore. Extracts from Kumar’s account follow:

……. We were shaken badly, obviously. …… I am still shocked that a sports team could be targeted in this manner.

We had always felt pretty safe in Pakistan, to be honest. It shows how naïve we were. …. We realize now that sports people and cricketers are not above being attacked.  ……

Tuesday started as just another day in Lahore ……. We were all looking forward to the third day's play and trying to win the series. Our chief concern was how to wheedle out 19 Pakistan wickets on another true batting pitch.
Our team bus left with three to four police cars in a convoy with around 12 policeman and security officers, including motorbike outriders. Along the route road junctions were cleared and side roads closed to ensure we passed through the traffic easily. It was standard security for teams in this region and we had no worries as we travelled to the stadium.

The bus was full of the normal banter. …….. Then, as we approached the large roundabout before the Gaddafi Stadium, we suddenly heard a noise like a firecracker. The bus came to a halt and some of the guys jumped out of their seats to see what was happening. Then came the shout: "They are shooting at us!" From the front I heard the screams to "get down, get down" and we all hit the deck. Within seconds we are all sprawled along the floor, lying on top of each other and taking shelter below the seats. The gunfire became louder, we heard explosions (which I understand now were hand grenades) and bullets started to flash through the bus.

 I was sitting next to Thilan Samaraweera and close to the young Tharanga Paranavitana. For some reason I moved my head to get a better view and a split second later I felt a bullet fizz past my ear into the vacant seat. Fortunately, as a team, we remained quite calm. No one panicked. After what must have been two minutes standing still, we urged the driver to make a run for the stadium just a few hundred meters away: "Go, go, go" we shouted. The truth is we owe our lives to the courageous Mohammad Khalil, the driver. I will forever be grateful to him. The tyres of the bus had been shot out and he was in grave personal danger, exposed to gunfire at the front of the bus. But he was hell-bent of getting us to safety and, somehow, he got us moving again.

Had Khalil not acted with such courage and presence of mind most of us would have been killed. Standing still next to the roundabout we were sitting ducks for the 12 gunmen. We only found out afterwards that a rocket launcher just missed us as we began moving and turned for the stadium gates, the rocket blowing up an electricity pylon. Khalil saw a hand grenade tossed at us that failed to explode. Someone must have been looking over us because right now it seems a miracle we survived.

As we moved towards the stadium, Tharanga announced he was hit as he sat up holding his chest. ……….. Shortly afterwards Thilan complained of a numbness in his leg, which we later found out was a bullet wound. Thilan and Tharanga were the worst hit. Just before reaching safety I felt a dull ache in my shoulder…….. 
For Kumar’s full account go to: http://theshire.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=3532 

Cricket NSW runs school holiday coaching clinics

Cricket NSW will be running School Holiday Coaching Clinics at the Power Education Indoor Centre at the SCG on April 15-16. Clinics run from 9am - 12pm with coaches including members of the RTA SpeedBlitz Blues squad.

The cost is $110 with a limit of 10 children per coach.  Send your applications in quickly as places are strictly limited!
Application Form: http://www.cricketnsw.com.au/nswcoa/AA/2008/ClinicForm.pdf
Information Flyer: http://www.cricketnsw.com.au/nswcoa/AA/2008/ClinicFlyer.pdf

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