‘Deadly’ work up for top honour

CAIRNS Hockey Association will take on the NRL and Major League Baseball as a finalist for Sport Federation or Governing Body of the Year at the 2016 Beyond Sport Awards.

Beyond Sport is the peak global organisation with the sole focus of demonstrating how sport can play an active role in sustainable social change.

Cairns Hockey has gained a place on the shortlist of four as a result of their efforts establishing the “Aspire to be Deadly” program, helping to develop pathways and opportunities for indigenous girls living in the remote and rural areas of Far North Queensland including Cape York, Torres Strait and the Gulf Savannah region as well as the Tablelands and Cairns district.

Cairns Hockey Association operations manager Julie McNeil said she was proud of those involved at the forefront of the program.

“Our co-ordinators, Wes Ferns and Jess Fatnowna in particular are very valuable assets and we all should be very grateful and proud of their contribution, so much of which our members never get to see or experience,” she said.

Cairns Hockey Association will next week send a squad of 20 under-11 players to participate in a carnival in Karumba made possible thanks to the work of the organisation in the region.

“It might not seem very important to us in Cairns but we are already seeing the interest in hockey increase in the Gulf because of this program,” she said. “Other positive spin-offs have included students managing to attain 90 per cent attendance levels and good behaviour making them eligible to participate. This is where hockey can and does make a difference.”

The Beyond Sport Awards ceremony will be held in London on October 19.

Leichhardt MP and patron of the Far North’s indigenous hockey teams Warren Entsch said being shortlisted for the award was recognition for the dedication to improving the lives of indigenous people.

Queensland Minister for Sport and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Curtis Pitt congratulated Cairns Hockey Association on the honour.

“Cairns Hockey Association has been batting well above its weight for more than a decade in its devotion to delivering programs with longterm benefits for Queensland’s indigenous and remote communities,” Mr Pitt said.