Champions join walk of fame
From national and international sporting arenas to Warragul's Civic Park, five renowned sporting ambassadors were inducted into Baw Baw Shire's sporting walking of fame last week.
Coinciding with International Women's Day, it was an historic first for four sports women to be celebrated for their outstanding achievements on the sporting stage - more than doubling the number of female athletes already included in the honours list.
The inductees included: Paralympic swimming champion Lichelle Clark; world champion underwater hockey players Tania McLeish and Belinda Watts-Keeley; and Paralympic equestrian champion Anne Skinner.
V8 Supercars champion Jason Bargwanna also had his day on the walk, almost two years after council supported his nomination to be inducted.
His celebration had been delayed by COVID. Hosting the event, Cr Jazmin Tauru said it was an historic first to have four women inducted into the walk of fame on the same, significantly coinciding with international Women's Day.
She said it was a day to celebrate five incredible athletes. "Each of them is a local sporting champion in their own right and all have my sincere admiration and congratulations."
Cr Peter Kostos said the walk of fame was established in 1999 with the first five inductees being gary Ablett, Peter Bartels, Tim Forsyth, Lionel Rose and Kathy Watt. Since then, another 19 sporting champions had been added, including last week's inductees.
He said criteria required nominees to have achieved success at an elite level; be of good character and a role model to the community; and, have a strong connection with the shire.
The four women were nominated by Women in Gippsland.
Lichelle made her international debut as a swimmer, competing in Spain in 2002 where she won three gold medals and one silver medal. She then went on to represent Australia until 2006, achieving an outstanding swimming career at a junior and senior level in local and international competitions.
Her highest achievement was winning a Paralympic silver medal in the 400m freestyle at the 2004 Athens Games.
She swam for the Warragul Water Warriors and was a member of the Gippsland Sports Academy between 2002 to 2007.
Lichelle thanked WIG for the nomination, saying it would not have happened without their support. "I am very happy they saw me as worthy to be inducted into this."
She said she was honoured to be inducted. “There are a lot of big names on here so I am very privileged to be on here," she said.
Tania McLeish
Tania was a three time underwater hockey world champion in 2002, 2006 and 2008.She also was a key member of the Victorian women's underwater hockey team which secured multiple gold medals (in 1998, 1999, 2006 and 2008) at the Australian National Titles.
Cr Tauru said Tania suffered a serious stroke which curtailed her playing and professional career. "Since then she has shown enormous resilience and motivation in completing arduous periods of rehabilitation to improve her movement and speech.
“Tania has been able to return playing at a club level and has had a highly successful international coaching career," she said.
She went on to have a highly successful international career with Nike and lives in the Netherlands.
Her father Rod accepted the walk of fame plaque on her behalf.
Rod thanked the underwater hockey family who had supported her throughout her sporting commitments.
“Tania always worked hard for her sport and in life. Her stroke changed her life completely... but she fought back - she inspired me," he said.
Anne successfully competed at international equestrian events including the Paralympics, world championships and games, national and state events.
Anne has been a coach for pony club, Riding for Disabled and later qualified as an Equestrian Australia (EA) coach.
Cr Tauru said Anne experienced an unfortunate accident where she underwent complex surgeries. Despite this, she pushed on with her passion. Her major achievements include competing for Australia in both the Sydney Paralympic Games and Athens Paralympic Games in mixed dressage; championship and freestyle events.
Anne said she was honoured to be included and declared she was “not finished yet.”
She acknowledged the support of her family who had had travelled the hard journey with her.
Belinda Watts-Keeley
Belinda is a two-time underwater hockey world champion, winning gold with the Australian Women’s team in 2002 and 2006. She represented Australia in the Elite Women’s division at six world championships securing two gold medals, as well as silver and bronze.
Belinda was a key player and captain with the Victorian underwater hockey team for more than two decades.
Belinda said she was grateful for the many opportunities given to her by Drouin Secondary College and the many local sporting clubs she was involved in before settling into underwater hockey.
“In my heart I’m just a local girl from Drouin who dreamt big,” she said.
Belinda thanked the many people who helped her achieve her accolades and the businesses and community who supported her fundraising efforts over the years.
She paid tribute to the women who inspired her to know “you can have children, be a great wife and still play sport at an elite level.”
Jason Bargwanna
Mary Hardwick-Jones, who nominated Jason, said she had been a V8 Supercars fan from way back.
She said Jason was part of a new band of young drivers that came to the fore and were so dominant.
“Your win at Bathurst in 2000 was the changing of the guard. Never did I think watching you from afar would result in a home grown hero being honoured in this way,” she said.
Jason began his racing career in the late 1980s with his big break in 1997 when he was selected as one of Holden’s Young Lions, racing for Garry Rogers Motorsport. He made his V8 Supercars debut at Sandown 500 that year.
The following year, he was third at Bathurst with co-driver Jim Richards.
After the 2011 V8 Supercars Championship, he moved to New Zealand V8 racing where he continued to win championships.
Throughout his career, Jason competed in 661 races, had 79 wins, achieved 154 podium finishes and 20 pole positions.
Jason said he grew up in a motor racing family and had a “dream and a passion to achieve great things.”
“With hard work and the support of many great people, I was able realise those dreams and results,” he said.
Jason said Bathurst continued to be pride of place in their home and he thanked his wife and family for making his dream possible.