Sports Archives - Page 151 of 160

Women’s Basketball In Search Of More Players

April 14, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

The Forbes Women’s Basketball Association is looking for more players to register, ahead of the start of its season on May 5. This year’s competition will be played on Thursday nights from 6.15pm at the Red Bend College undercover courts.

But with the start of the season soon approaching, Association President Candice Morrison said anyone interested in playing should register as soon as they can. “We have registration packs available at News on Rankin on Rankin Street, and they’re also downloadable from our Facebook page,” she said.

“The first two weeks of the competition will be training, getting to know each other, and finalising the teams, which we hope to have about seven of.” Morrison said any women from Parkes interested in playing basketball were also encouraged to make the short drive down to Forbes. “Parkes doesn’t currently have a basketball competition, so women from there are more than welcome to come down to Forbes to play,” she said.

The Association managed to put together seven teams last year, and is hoping to build on that in 2016. Morrison said girls aged 16 in the Forbes Basketball Association could also step up toplay seniors.

Meanwhile, the Association has elected a new committee, with Candice Morrisonas President, Samantha Rath as Secretary, Debbie Hearn as Treasurer, and Julie Crimp as Publicity Officer.

Magpies Ready For Final Preseason Hit-Out

April 7, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

The Forbes Magpies will welcome back some injured players this weekend as they prepare to take on the Wellington Orcas in Wellington on Saturday. The Magpies will come off a solid 38-16 win over the Parkes Spacemen last week a match where they flexed their muscles and piled on the points.

It was part of a blockbuster evening at Spooner Oval last Friday night, with the under 18s getting up 18-6, while the league tag girls went down 12-0. One junior and senior side will travel to Wellington on Saturday, with the league tag girls unable to make the trip. Magpies President Greg Grogan said the senior players showed great strength last Friday, and would be confident heading into their final preseason hit-out.

“We’ve got a really strong forward pack this year plus we’ve picked up some good young backs, who played really well,” he said. “We’ll still have a couple players resting for Wellington, but some others will be back from their injuries which will be good.” “We dropped a few balls against Parkes, so the players will be working on that moving forward.”

Grogan said the club was lacking players for their reserve grade team this year, and with depth being important, he encouraged any player interested in playing to attend team training at Spooner Oval at 6pm on a Tuesday night. “We would love to see more players registering for our reserve grade side, so if anyone is thinking about it or would be interested in playing, they are more than welcome to come to training and join up,” he said.

The Magpies have a bye in round one of the Group 11 competition following the Wellington trial.

Kenny Happy With Forbes’ State League Performance

April 7, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

Forbes Netball Association State League division two coach Robyn Kenny said her players put in an outstanding performance in this year’s State League, finishing fourth overall. The finals were staged in Orange last Sunday, with Forbes facing Bathurst and Orange.

They went down in a very tight match for the second time against Bathurst, after losing to them in round one of the competition, and played for third place against Orange. Unfortunately for the yellow and blue side, they again went down in a tight tussle, and settled for fourth place overall. But having come so close to reaching the grand final, and having recorded some good wins in their State League campaign, Kenny said there were a lot of positives for the FNA to take from this year’s State League.

“We had some very unlucky games, and when luck isn’t on your side, there isn’t a great deal you can do about it,” she said. “There were minor things we weren’t getting right, such as turnovers, and they were the difference in winning and losing games.”

Forbes lead most of their matches against Bathurst and Orange, but turnovers in the last stages of each match lead both sides back into the contest, which they would ultimately win. Bathurst went on to finish the competition undefeated and win the title, but Kenny said when you compare how long her team has played together with how long the Bathurst players have been together for, her team’s results were very impressive.

“I couldn’t be happier with how the players played, considering that Bathurst have been together for quite a few years now, and we haven’t been able to train as much as we’d like to either,” she said. “The games we lost were still very close. We just lacked the structure to finish them off and maintain our leads to get back in front.” “We’ve had a great time over the last few weeks for State League, and the players have shown great sportsmanship.”

The players will now focus on the FNA’s local Saturday competition, and will start preparing for the Forbes Carnival on May 1, before deciding whether or not to enter into any other regional carnivals.

Magpies To Host Derby Trial Night

March 31, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

The first local derby of 2016 will be staged tonight at Spooner Oval when the Forbes Magpies take on the Parkes Spacemen in one of their final hit-outs before the season-proper. Three grades will feature from 6pm, including the women’s league tag, under 18s, and a senior side made up of reserve grade and first grade players.

With the Spacemen being the closest rival to the Magpies the game should still be a tight affair despite it only being a trial match. The games will be played in 40-minute halves. For the senior players, it will be their second-last trial before next weekend’s match against Wellington in Wellington, before
their Group 11 round one bye.

Their first game will be against Dubbo Macquarie at Spooner Oval on April 23. Ahead of tonight’s trial, Magpies President Greg Grogan said his men were still carrying some minor injuries, but with some players sitting out, it would still be a good hit-out against Parkes. “We’ve got the first grade and reserve grade squads combining for the senior team, so it will be a good chance to see what sort of depth we have,” he said.

The Magpies made the semi-final at the Parkes Nines event two weeks ago, beating Wellington and Dubbo West Side before falling to Dubbo CYMS, and Grogan said this confidence would hold them in good stead moving forward. “Nines is completely different, but it was still a good showing of fitness from the players,” he said.

“From here it’s just a matter of avoiding more injuries. The best teams in the competition normally have the least injuries.” The Magpies will hold their season launch on Friday April 15 at the Sport and Recreation Club, and will combine their juniors and seniors at the launch for the first time.

Andrews Family Excels at Easter Bowls

March 31, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

The Forbes Sport & Recreation Club hosted the Annual Easter Lawn Bowls Carnival over the weekend with thirty-four teams from all over NSW competing in the Pairs and Fours competitions. A large majority of the teams hailed from the Sydney Metropolitan area and were impressed with the excellent facilities the Forbes club had to offer. The competition is for all male teams and Forbes was well represented in all divisions.

The Andrews family featured strongly in the pairs and the fours with Jarrod
Andrews & Grandfather Don Drabsch making it to the Semi-finals of the pairs along with Mitchell Andrews who teamed up with Bruce Williams, also making it to the Semifinals. Jarrod and Mitchell then competed in the Fours with their father Scott and Grandfather, Don Drabsch and made their way to the final on Sunday evening. Spectators were kept entertained with some very strong bowls but a very strong and slick Belrose Team edged out the locals to win.

Another Successful Year For SOYA

March 31, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

The Forbes Sportsperson of the Year Association enjoyed another very successful year in 2015. Many of the bodies of the sport played within the town or in its surrounding areas, nominated individuals or teams for our annual presentation awards night held in February. Those sporting bodies that don’t nominate any individual or team for the relevant award, I believe miss the opportunity to congratulate them for their input into their sport throughout the year. To be nominated by your peers must surely be a highlight of your sporting year.

Firstly, may I thank the SOYA committee (be it small in number) for their hard work, support and general good nature that has made the years involvement a pleasure. Special thanks must go to Anita Morrison for her outstanding work as Secretary and Sue Uphill in her role as Treasurer. As I stated in previous years, their organisational skills are an absolute credit to them, and a bonus
to us. Secondly, thanks to all the sporting clubs that support our organisation.

Thirdly, thank you to all the local businesses who so generously supported us
financially throughout the year and on our presentation night. Without your support we would not be able to exist. Fourthly, to the judges. A difficult job, but done with what I believe to be very fair and unbiased decisions.

Whilst talking of our presentation night, may I thank “The Girls” for running the night on their own due to all the “Male” committee members having work commitments out of Forbes on the evening. The guest speaker was well received, we thank Anita again for organising, Tom Cusack and wish him well
in his pursuit of glory at the Rio Olympics as a member of the Australian Rugby 7’s team.

Lastly, thanks and congratulations to all the sportsmen and women of Forbes for being such “Good Sports”. Hopefully gaining the enjoyment and satisfaction that sport is able to provide makes it all worthwhile for the
hard work at training and playing. Lets hope that 2016 unearths much sporting talent that we can celebrate at our next SOYA Awards Night.

By Andrew Norton-Knight
President Forbes SOYA

Union Club Presidents Lunch Hailed a Success

March 23, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

The cooler conditions were perfect for the Forbes Rugby Union Club’s Presidents Lunch held on Saturday. Almost 900 people filled the two large marques to make the 2016 lunch the largest to date. Club President, Tracey Prior, welcomed guests and gave a stirring speech about what the Forbes Rugby Club means to the community and how the members and players have contributed to make the Forbes Platypi so special.

Life Membership was awarded to Andrew Hubbard who has been a huge part of the club for many years, as a player, clubman, mentor and previous president. Wayne O’Neill launched the Forbes Rugby Old Boys, or FROBS, organisation which is dedicated to encouraging previous players and supporters of the Forbes Platypi to remain actively involved in the club and give back to a club that has given them so much in the past.

It was with a hint of sadness that Kim Muffett, announced his retirement from the Presidents lunch committee this year. The Presidents Lunch concept was
Kim’s idea and what he thought was going to be a few people getting together for lunch exceeded all expectations in its first year and has continued to grow with each event. The committee will continue the tradition and would invite new members to join and be part of this great community event.

Well known comedian, Jean Kitson, did not disappoint with her witty and entertaining presentation and afterwards mingled with guests. Randall Grayson controlled the sale of the auction items donated for the event and once again the generosity of the Forbes community was shown, with all
items reaching prices in excess of expectations.

Organisers and beneficiaries, such as the Forbes CanAssist Branch were delighted with the response and the profits raised will go a long way to continuing their great work.

Netball Association Finals and Upgrades

March 23, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

The Forbes Netball Association have enjoyed a great week, securing a timeframe for their courts upgrades as well as making the finals of the Orange State League event.

Resurfacing of four courts at the FNA’s base at Stephan Field will begin on Monday April 4, after Forbes Shire Council resolved to asphalt overlay and line marking remedial works at its February meeting. The works will be done during the April school holidays, when no netball will take place, and will be completed in time for the Forbes Netball Carnival on May 1.

The four courts to be re-sealed have been unplayable in recent times, according to FNA representative coach Robyn Kenny, and she said the upgrades will vastly improved conditions for netball.

“We had a very positive meeting with Council on March 15 and I’m happy to say that our courts will be re-sealed in the April school holidays,” she said.
“We were originally going to look at getting all of our courts re-sealed, but five of the courts still have a good coating on top so we thought we would leave them and just upgrade the other four.”

“As well as resealing those courts, all of our courts will also be widened, so we will have more space as well.” “It’ll be great having our new courts ready to go for our competition after the holidays, as well as our carnival at the start of May.”

Last year Forbes Shire Council also funded an upgrade to the Association’s administration building at Stephan Field, while the new amenities block there was completed last week.

Meanwhile, the FNA division two open team finished fourth in the Orange State League competition, qualifying for an elimination final meeting with Bathurst on 3 April.

After defeating Cobar and Cowra, and losing to Bathurst by only five goals in round one a fortnight ago, they lost both matches by comfortable margins to Orange and Dubbo in round two last week. Kenny said she was still impressed with her girls’ effort, but conceded the Orange and Dubbo teams were too strong for them on the day.

“The girls tried very hard with limited training throughout the week, so I am happy with the effort they put in,” she said. “Orange and Dubbo were just too fast, fit and strong for us I think.”

Their finals opponent Bathurst are undefeated, and finished first in the competition. Dubbo and Orange finished second and third respectively.
Kenny said her players were confident of pushing Bathurst right to the finish line after leading them at three quarter time in their last encounter.

“We’ll be trying our best out there. We had too many turnovers last week but if we can play how we did in the first week and hold on to the ball we’ll play much better,” she said.

Successful Day for Par Events

March 23, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

On Saturday 19 March competition at the Forbes Golf Club was for the 4BBB Mixed Par event, and an Individual Par event run in conjunction.

The first three placegetters In the Mixed Par event will go forward to the District Final, to be held at Peak Hill. The winners and lucky runners-up teams were Phil & Shirley Dukes (with a score of +8), Niel & Carolyn Duncan (+6) on count back, and Andy Cogswell and Christine Davies (+6).

The reserves will be Mike & Tanya Spice, also with +6. The Individual Par event saw scores less pretty than the Mixed Par events. Paul Kay scored +4 to take the win, only just ahead of Neil McMillan on +3.

Sunday was the regular Stableford Medley. The day was enjoyed by a healthy bunch of players. Bruce Carpenter reversed his form from Saturday recorded 43 points. Ben Webb came in as runner-up with 39 points. Both
players had birdies to score 4-pointers.

The NTP’s went to: 9th – R Taylor; 18th – B Shields. Neither got their ‘2’.The ball sweep went to 33 on count back, with recipients being: 35 – Larry Gillespie (Stonecutters Ridge), Rob Webb; 33 – Ray Taylor. As usual with the 18-hole events, the contest was for the Coles-Miller Shield. Local knowledge, and weight of numbers, helped as Forbes won with 198 (19 players), ahead of Parkes 173 (16), Condobolin 164 (8), W Wyalong 160 (7), Cowra 155 (8) and Grenfell 123 (5). The one visitor beat himself in a play-off.

And here is the news: Daniel is running a Junior School Holiday Camp on 11 and 12 April. If you have a child, or know of any school children who may be interested, please contact Daniel at the Pro Shop 6851 1554.

The LCDGA Pennants will be held at Parkes on Sunday 17 April. This is open to all Club players, with those who represented the Club in this year’s Pennants comp especially encouraged to attend. The more players we have the better our chances of getting another “blue flag” on the wall.

By Short Putt

Magpies Focus on Nines after Bathurst Win

March 17, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

The Forbes Magpies will turn their attention to the Parkes Nines tournament this weekend after defeating Bathurst St Patricks 38-16 in the Brendan Collits Memorial Cup. It was a brave effort by all players who took to the field, with the mercury reaching a sweaty 37 degrees.

But with the temperature only expected to hit 26 degrees on Saturday for the Parkes tournament, Magpies President Greg Grogan said it wouldn’t be as exhausting for the players. “It was ridiculous how hot it was last Saturday [against Bathurst],” he said. “The players did so well to get through
that and play how they did, and hopefully it’ll be much cooler at the Nines in Parkes.”

“Jake Grace [Magpies coach] will take a squad of 15 over there, and whilst Nines is a completely different form of the game, it’ll be a good test of fitness and keeping possession.”

The Magpies will need to win at least two games to make the Parkes Nines finals, and will be confident after showing great form at the West Wyalong knockout competition a fortnight ago, and the Brendan Collits Memorial Cup last week.

They raced out to a 26-4 half time lead in the heat against Bathurst St Patricks at Spooner Oval, and showed plenty of ability with the ball and their fitness levels. The game was played in 20-minute quarters due to the heat, and finished with a jersey auction in the clubhouse after full time.

Grogan said coach Grace was happy with the effort his players put in. “It was very hot, but the players dug deep and got through it pretty well. It was a hard
game, but it was played in good spirit. Both teams had some players out to injury too,” he said.

The Magpies wore a one-off jersey during the game that commemorated the late Brendan Collits, and auctioned these off after the game as a fundraiser. “The Bathurst boys were good enough to buy a few, and we thank them for their generosity.

They said they would use them in their new clubhouse that is getting built,” Grogan said. The curtain-raising women’s league tag match between Forbes and Bathurst was abandoned due to serious injury. A Bathurst player was airlifted to hospital after falling awkwardly upon scoring a try, but is reportedly in a good condition.

By Joshua Matic

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