Waite Electorate Sports Clubs

Ms HUTCHESSON (Waite) (15:26): I want to take some time today to celebrate the fantastic sporting achievements of some of the awesome clubs in my community. To start with, cricket, because it is my favourite: on the weekend we had the cross-town rivalry in full display between Coromandel Cricket Club and the Coromandel Valley Ramblers. Their division 1 men's team took to the Hawthorndene Oval and there was a lot of stress in the air to see who would come away the victor from that game.

Congratulations to the Coromandel cricket team who took it out, winning by 53 runs. It was a 75 overs match each day, and it was definitely a hard-fought victory. Congratulations to all of the Coromandel cricket team. They also took home the division 4 C-grade grand final which was incredible to see, and in fact one of our ministers' staff is in that team. So, well done, Chris.

Whilst the Coromandel Valley Ramblers lost that game, they won something completely different which was the South Australian Cricket Association's Community Club of the Year, so that is the South Australian Community Club of the Year. They do an incredible job at creating opportunity for young people to play sport and they were well recognised in the awards just a couple of weeks ago, and I was very pleased to be able to see them there and share in their celebrations. I would like to congratulate Jarryd Simister and the rest of the club on all the work they do in creating opportunity for kids but also for bringing our community together as well.

I would also like to quickly have a big congratulations to the South Australian cricket team who brought us home the shield on the weekend. What an incredible achievement, what an incredible game. I was pleased to be able to go just for a short time. Congratulations to the whole SACA team to turn Karen Rolton Oval around with the support of our government. It was a huge weekend and congratulations to the team.

Onto tennis, the Blackwood Tennis Club took home the division 2 men's, the combined division 1 women's with Colonel Light Gardens West and also the division 4 women's with the awesome achievement in their grand final as well. The Coromandel Valley Tennis Club also took out the division 2 mixed, the division 7 men's and the GWS men's grand final. You can hear it. We have incredible sportspeople in our community who just continue to show how great they are.

Over to the Sturt Baseball Club, their division 1 men's team took out the grand final against Henley and Grange, and their division 1 women's team came second in their grand final. It was a huge effort by all the players, and a big congratulations to the Sturt Baseball Club. I am sure there are a lot more winners and some still to come, and our community thinks it is an incredible thing to be able to get out and play sport.

We have so many people who take to courts, take to the ovals or take to the field, and I congratulate all of them. Whether you are a winner or a loser, you are out there having fun and enjoying yourself, so in my eyes you are a winner. I actually played a little bit of sport last week with the walking cricket in the Blackwood Recreation Centre, put on by our Coromandel Ramblers through a grant they got from the City of Mitcham. Everybody has to be at least 50, or just slightly less than 50 in my case.

Mr Telfer: How did you get in then?

Ms HUTCHESSON: I am 49; I will be 50 in a couple of weeks. Everybody has to walk, whether you are batting, bowling or fielding. You have to walk, and you have to remind yourself that you have to walk. You only use a tennis ball, so you certainly get to take out your frustration and have a bit of fun, and I will be back there again next week.

On the weekend I attended the AGM of the Friends of Old Government House. It was a lovely afternoon and it was beautifully laid out underneath the beautiful historic pine tree that is in the Belair National Park. It was lovely to be there to watch several of the members receive some accolades.

The first was the husband and wife team that look after the group in the president and the secretary roles, and that is Tina and Wayne Gallasch. They were acknowledged and celebrated, and they received life membership of the Friends of Old Government House. They do so much to keep that group going. They are constantly out promoting the group and promoting the work that they do. Tina even took my mum for a quick tour of Old Government House while we were there. She has not been there since I was a kid, so it was a bit of a shock for her to bring back those memories.

We also celebrated 20 years' service for Rhonda Cleghorn and 15 years' service for Janice Farrugia. Further, the friends acknowledged their volunteers through their own Volunteer of the Year Award, and that was taken out by Rob and Janice Farrugia. A huge thank you to all the volunteers who look after Old Government House. It is an incredibly special place, and without you I am not sure what we would do.

The SPEAKER: I was actually at the cricket at Karen Rolton Oval and saw the member for Waite. It was a beautiful, glorious sunny day and there were cold, crispy beers being served, and she left to go to an AGM in her electorate, just to show her dedication. I did not. I stayed there and watched the victory until the very end.