Sporting Events

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:12): I wanted to inform the house about the sporty weekend I had last weekend. I note, sir, you are in the Woodville West-Torrens guernsey.

The SPEAKER: Yes, that is correct. That would account for the hostility of some Sturt supporters on my left today.

Ms BEDFORD: No, that's disgusting. AFL will feature in this talk, but I want to start with last Friday night, when I had the pleasure to represent the Premier and the Minister for Education at the sixth Ice Factor Spectacular at the Hilton, Adelaide. This year's theme was 'One moment in time', which was the song sung on the night by Grace Bawden, our own wonderful Adelaide vocalist.

This event and the Challenge Cup utilise skills taught during the on-ice training and life skills sessions which are applied in a practical effort to show at-risk and disengaged students how these attributes can be used beneficially in any life situation. We heard from Marie Shaw who has passionately championed this program since 2005, and we heard some great stories of huge personal growth and success by several successful participants of the course and also a recently returned Olympian, who made a really welcome appearance at the evening.

Two hundred and fifty male and female students from the years 8 to 13 cohorts in 18 local schools, with another school due to come online next year, are involved in this life-changing experience which is often a turning point in self-confidence and community connection for the young people involved.

Thanks go to the comperes, Cherylee Harris and Mark Holden, who give their time every year, and to Tanya Powell Modelling Agency, who makes sure the young people are ready and choreographed on the catwalk to present the clothes supplied by Peter Shearer Menswear and Miss Gladys Sim Choon. We would also like to thank all the sponsors—too many to name in the time available here this afternoon—as they make this event possible. The room was filled with families and supporters, and we also need to thank Bernard Booth for looking after the auction that was held later in evening to raise money for this very worthy cause.

Early on Saturday morning, I continued my sporty weekend with a visit to the Valley View Tennis Club to recognise the achievements of players in their very successful 2016 winter season. Around 40 certificates were presented to juniors of all ages, both girls and boys, with recognition of the significant achievements of Thien-an Tran, the winner of the Member for Florey Trophy for the best and fairest player, and Shorup Sharma, who won the Mayor of Salisbury Trophy.

Many thanks go to Jim and Sophia Zissopoulos and all the parents and friends who support these young players at this great community club. Exciting times lie ahead with recent upgrades of court surfacing attracting new members, encouraging the club to begin the search for additional court space to satisfy the expanding demand in our local area.

I then visited the Modbury Vista Soccer Club presentation day. Despite the dire weather forecast, parents and friends and supporters saw over 600 juniors from 44 teams being presented on stage throughout the day. This year's presentations were brought forward to accommodate the exciting facility upgrades that will soon begin. The works will see improvements to the grounds themselves and, in recognition of the growing women's teams, women's change rooms will be installed for the first time.

I was lucky enough to be able to present the trophies to one of the girls' teams on the day. They have done very well in their division this year. I would like to thank and congratulate all the coaches, assistants, team managers, support staff and the club executive involved; chairman, Mr Rick Shrowder; vice chair, Mr Neil Kendera; secretary, Mr Michael Sentshuk; coach co-ordinator, Mr Zack Jackman; and everyone who puts in to give the players such a supportive environment to pursue their personal best in their chosen sport.

Lastly, I travelled to Thebarton Oval to support the Modbury Hawks in the Division 2 South Australian Amateur Football League grand final against St Peter's Old Collegians. The game started with a strong gusty wind favouring the team kicking to the north, and after half-time the weather changed for the worse to heavy rain resulting in very slippery conditions. I am very happy to report that Modbury led at every quarter and went on to win by 49 points, 16.9 (105) to 8.8 (56). The 2016 Fred Bloch Medallist for the best and fairest player in Division 2 was Tim Davey, who kicked four goals on the day, and Modbury's Matt Fogden was awarded Best on Ground.

Big congratulations go to all the coaching and support team, led by senior coach Nathan Grainger. Thanks, too, to club president, Dennis French; vice president, Gary Noble; secretary, Janice Byles; and treasurer, Julie Wells, for all their hard work over the season. Modbury has been rewarded with promotion to Division 1 for next season, which will see a return to the great Tea Tree Gully Wolves/Modbury Hawks rivalry. I know the member for Newland and I will have to keep a close eye on having some sort of trophy in the final, or the derbies, for that division this year coming. Congratulations to everyone involved in what was a really great weekend of sport.