By Nick Creely
There was plenty of local recognition at the recent Victorian Sports Awards, with both the Victorian Sikh Games and the City of Casey taking out some prestigious honours.
The awards, which is the night of nights for the Victorian sporting community, recognises and celebrates the achievements of home-grown premier athletes, grassroots heroes and those who have shown commitment and dedication to community sport in Victoria.
Presented by the State Government of Victoria and Vicsport on Wednesday 26 February, at Marvel Stadium, the Victorian Sport Awards honoured individual and team athletes, coaches, administrators and volunteers from both metropolitan and regional Victoria.
Locally, the Victorian Sikh Games took out the Community Sporting Event of the Year for its outstanding event at Casey Fields in 2019, toppling a large group of very strong finalists.
The Sikh Games involved 14 sports open to all skills and backgrounds over three days. Across those days, over 100,000 people attended with 140,000 free meals provided by the local Sikh Temple communities, as well as managing traffic and crowds, sporting protocols, and food and beverage procedures.
The impact of the Sikh Games on local community sporting participation was immediately seen within Casey Council – with the region approached to hold new sporting events in the future, including a Kabaddi Tournament and a Multicultural Athletics Day.
The City of Casey also took out the Local Government Initiative of the Year with its work in transforming Casey Stadium into a world class multi-sport stadium, equipped with new gymnastics, indoor cricket, indoor soccer and wheelchair sports programs
Parliamentary secretary for sport, Danielle Green said it was incredible to see so many boys and girls take part in sport across the state, and to be honored for their achievements.
“We’re seeing growing numbers of girls and boys, women and men signing up to play sport at local clubs. Home-grown heroes play a big part in inspiring that growth,” she said.
“Congratulations to all the achievers recognised in the Victorian Sport Awards. The hard work and dedication of athletes, coaches, officials, administrators and volunteers at all levels of sport is truly outstanding.”
Vicsport chairman Ron Gauci said the evening was a great celebration for all involved in the Victorian sporting community.
“On another spectacular night, the Victorian Sport Awards was a wonderful celebration of the Victorian sporting community,” he said.
“The ability to showcase sport across all levels and see community participants share the stage with home grown sporting heroes makes for a very special occasion.”
