Wagga Wagga’s junior sports stars Xceler8 their future
Announcement posted by Beyond Bank Australia 06 Jan 2012
Xceler8 Fitness Centre, in partnership with local credit union Wagga Mutual, today announced the winners of the 2011/2012 Wagga Mutual Credit Union Junior Sports Scholarship.
The program is designed to help local junior athletes aged 12 to 17 years take the next step in their chosen field of sport. Following the success of the inaugural program in 2010/2011, this year more than 100 scholarship applications were received.
The judging panel, consisting of AFL sporting legend Paul Kelly, Olympian and Commonwealth Games expat Stacey Stone, Wagga Mutual staff Andrew Toole, Karen Garrod and Monica Hardy and Star FM’s Duncan Potts, tackled the difficult task of determining the Scholarship winners.
First prize, a sponsorship package valued at $2,700 including an account at Wagga Mutual Credit Union with $1000, was awarded to Kaitlin Jeffries. The 17-year-old taekwondo specialist is a rising star who was recently selected to compete at the Taekwondo World Titles in Czechoslovakia.
James Hay, an athletics national champion, and Jake Brooker, a junior cycler, took out second and third place, while Caleb Noble, a triathlete, was awarded fourth place and Andrew Emery, a footballer, fifth place. Each received a scholarship package valued at more than $2,000.
Wagga Mutual Regional Manager, Andrew Toole, said the program was an outstanding initiative that supports the development of local junior sporting talent. “We are very proud to be associated with Xceler8 and to put our support behind the scholarship program,” said Mr Toole.
“We are committed to helping the Wagga Wagga community grow and this program is one way we can do this, by offering some of our community’s most talented junior sportspeople a helping hand to pursue their sporting careers.”
Xceler8 Fitness Centre General Manager, Kerry Podmore was impressed by the number and calibre of entries received this year, with submissions ranging from gymnastics, moto-cross, water polo and ballroom dancing through to football, swimming, track and field and cricket.
“It is fantastic to see so many young people passionately pursuing their career in sports, and judging by the quality of the entries I would say that Wagga Wagga holds a whole group of future star athletes – and we are delighted to be able to help them along,” said Mr Podmore.
ABOUT THE COMMUNITY CPS AUSTRALIA GROUP
Community CPS Australia is a two-time winner of Money Magazine’s Australian Credit Union of the Year Award. With more than 185,000 members, Community CPS employs 585 staff across branches in South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and operates as Wagga Mutual Credit Union in Wagga Wagga, Companion Credit Union in the Hunter Valley and United Community in Western Australia. Community CPS Australia is now one of the country’s leading credit unions with $3.5 billion worth of assets under management. For more information visit www.communitycps.com.au