[contact-form-7] ]]> http://www.spec.com.au/blog/2012/05/17/test-contact-form-7/feed/ 0 http://www.spec.com.au/blog/2012/05/16/basketball-drawcard/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=basketball-drawcard http://www.spec.com.au/blog/2012/05/16/basketball-drawcard/#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 02:55:48 +0000 Scott Malcolm http://www.spec.com.au/?p=34530

ENTRIES for the South West Classic will close on Friday and those interested are urged to get their teams in as soon as possible.
The Portland tournament, now in its 37th year, will be held on the June long weekend, and teams from all over Victoria and South East South Australia are expected to have some fun in the coastal town.
“The focus of the tournament is on promoting basketball, as well as promoting friendship, and mateship within the basketball fraternity,” Portland Basketball Association president Peter Gracias told the Portland Observer.
“There’s less of an onus on the competitive side of the sport, and a greater onus on the social side.
“It’s a friendly event; teams do tend to enjoy the social side of it, and they come up with some very inventive and innovative types of uniforms.
“There’s a lot of humour and light-heartedness within the play on the court.”
The stakes will still be raised with prizemoney though; with approximately $1000 going to the winning teams in Division One.
Men’s and women’s competition will be held and around 25 teams are hoped to compete.
Read more in Wednesday’s edition of the Portland Observer.

PORTLAND held on to defeat Hamilton by five goals in their Western Border Netball Association A Grade contest on Saturday at Hanlon Park.
A turnover off the first pass and missed shots by Hamilton enabled the Tigers to take a three-goal lead early in the first quarter.
Strong defensive pressure by Chelsea McMahon at wing defence and Sarah Malseed at centre, and good leading and passing in the goal circle by Steph Arnott (goal shooter) and Lauren Hockley (goal attack), resulted in the lead being extended to seven goals.
Goal attack Clare Crawford and wing attack Renae Beks combined well for Hamilton, but goal shooter Anya Hamill struggled to find her range in the windy conditions.
The blustery conditions continued to cause inaccuracy for Hamilton’s goalers in the second quarter, but Hamill started to find her range.
More settled court play from both teams enabled past passages of play and strongly contested netball.
Strong rebounding from goal defence Amanda Huf and defensive pressure from wing defence Katrina Amor helped Hamilton to close the gap to five goals midway through the second quarter.
Portland’s defenders lifted their work rate, as did Genevieve Lenehan at goalkeeper for Hamilton.
The Tigers maintained a seven-goal lead at half time.
Read more in Wednesday’s edition of the Portland Observer.

PORTLAND had a good 3-1 win over Redbacks in last weekend’s Lower South East Hockey Association round.
“We decided to go back to the basics of hockey, which we had neglected last week (in the team’s loss to Cavaliers),” coach Chris Saunders said.
“We just focused on our short passes and controlling the ball, so as to not give the opposition a chance to attack.
“Instead of doing long uncontrolled hits where we don’t actually have possession we were honouring our next person in line’s lead and letting them work it up to the next stage; just working it up in small steps instead of trying to get all the way up there in one hit.
“That seemed to work pretty well as we controlled the ball for the majority of the first half.”
Portland’s first goal came from Mitchell Barnes, who with an impressive attempt deflected the ball into the goals from midair.
The next goal came from Aaron Welfare who scored after rebounding off the goalie.
“That was another thing we wanted to focus on; after having our first shot to continually get the ball and put it against the goalie as much as we can until it either goes in or it goes the other way,” Saunders said.
“Aaron managed to get it in on his second or third attempt, which was excellent.”
Portland brought its attacking style of hockey into the second half, and although the side lacked some fitness towards the end of the game, Brent Stafford scored in the dying minutes.
Read more in Wednesday’s edition of the Portland Observer.

SOMEWHERE in Greece, there’s a merchant seaman who reckons Portlanders are just about the nicest people on the planet.
At Monday’s 50th anniversary celebrations for Portland’s Mission to Seafarers, manager Neville Manson told a story to about 35 guests, a tale that neatly encapsulates what the mission is all about.
“A Greek ship arrived in port and one of the crewmen had a very serious skin rash that could have been debilitating,” Mr Manson recalled. “He was terrified the condition would cause him to lose his job. We took him to a doctor here who said he’d have to urgently see a specialist in Geelong. One of our volunteers drove him over there and the whole way this crewman was very nervous about his future, almost suicidal.
“By an amazing coincidence, the Geelong specialist was also of Greek ancestry, so he and his patient got along very well. The specialist charged a reduced fee, which we helped to pay, and the man returned to his vessel, cured. He and his captain were ecstatically happy about the way it all turned out. We saved his job and maybe his life, he was that distressed.”
Perhaps not always as dramatically, but for half a century the mission has been offering refuge, comfort and kindness to thousands of merchant seafarers who visit the port every year.
The new Anglican Bishop of Ballarat, Garry Weatherill, also spoke at the function. For 10 years he has also served as Australian chair of the Mission to Seafarers, so he is exceptionally well aware of its good works.
Read more in Wednesday’s edition of the Portland Observer.

SCORES of people ventured out on a chilly Portland Monday evening to show support for the embattled Sea View House.
Support was so strong for the facility that 25 people at the meeting nominated to join the new Sea View House steering committee.
The committee was formed during the public meeting, attended by about 80 people, that was led by members of the Sea View House Support Group.
The meeting was held after Portland District Health (PDH) board president Mike Noske last week indicated the board would look at any viable options put to them to have a community group or private business lease the building.
“There is a chance if we can get some sort of group to put a proposal together the board will consider it,” support group spokeswoman Glenda Carswell said.
She said the members of the support group were burnt out and needed a new committee to form with fresh ideas and enthusiasm.
“We don’t want to be at the forefront but we are more than willing to help. We have the information, which we are willing to share,” she told the meeting.
Mrs Carswell said continuing to run Sea View House as a Supported Residential Service (SRS) would be like starting a new business.
Read more in Wednesday’s edition of the Portland Observer.

DYLAN Guy only had his car three weeks before a run-in with a deer on April 14 damaged it beyond repair.
After seeing a picture of the deer that crippled his car in last Wednesday’s edition of the Portland Observer, Mr Guy got in touch to tell his story.
“I was coming home at 10.30pm at night, nothing unusual,” Mr Guy said. “I was coming down the hill just past the 100km sign.”
Mr Guy glanced down to check his speedometer then looked up just as his car hit something — later identified as a deer — although, at the time, he wasn’t sure what he had hit, only catching a glimpse of the animal as it went over the car.
In that split second the deer went up over the bonnet, extensively damaging the front of the car, pushing the radiator into the engine, folded back the front driver’s side panel and destroyed the headlight; smashed the windscreen, and managing to leave a hoof print on top of the roof before landing on the edge of the road behind the car.
“I kept going for a while before I managed to stop …I was in shock,” he said.
“It was really bad luck, especially with a car in front. It ran out between us.”
As a result of having the car ahead of him Mr Guy had been driving with his lights on low beam.
Read more in Wednesday’s edition of the Portland Observer.

A THREE-CAR collision at the intersection of Percy and Townsend streets at 3.45pm on Monday left one person in hospital and another with minor injuries.
Police, ambulance and CFA attended the accident.
According to Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman Gabriel Degenhardt, ambulance officers treated one person on scene and took an 18-year-old male in a stable condition to Portland District Health with a collarbone injury.
Portland Urban Fire Brigade leading firefighter Natalie Brindle attended the incident as part of a crew of five volunteers in two trucks.
Read more in Wednesday’s edition of the Portland Observer.

BUNDARRA Primary is preparing to bid a fond farewell to mainstay Carmel Cleary after 30 years work at the school.
Mrs Cleary has been working at Bundarra since it was Portland South West Primary, after the split from Portland South Primary in the early 80s.
Originally Mrs Cleary started as a clerical assistant with principal Leon Frankcom.
Mrs Cleary’s role evolved into business manager as the school became self-managing.
“I’d always worked at schools,” Mrs Cleary said.
“I started out at Casterton High School after I finished school and I was the first person at Portland Technical School when it opened.”
Many former Bundarra pupils would remember Mrs Cleary for her collection of Beanie Kids, which populated her office and which she still has today.
Read more in Wednesday’s edition of the Portland Observer.

DUNKELD was on Channel Nine’s weather radar on Sunday, as the network’s Today show broadcast live from the town’s arboretum at the foot of the Grampians.

Grampians Tourism paired with the broadcaster to promote the region as a tourism destination, with the support of State Government flood recovery funding.

Today show weather presenter, Emma Freedman, kept locals entertained for several hours, even taking up the opportunity to have a kick of the footy with victorious Dunkeld Rams under-12 side.