Edited by Murray Elbourn

February 2019 edition of THE VISION BULLETIN Blind Sports NSW

BLIND NSW GO B2B IN NCIC’s

Blind Cricket NSW returned to Geelong the site of their triumphant victory in the 2018 National Cricket Inclu- sion Championships when they defeated the mighty Victorian team who haven’t missed a National Final since 1994-95. The team still led by NSW Captain Lindsay Heaven and coached by Jason Stubbs had some major omissions from 2018 with Vice Captain and Australian player Matthew Cameron moving to the big V for his University Studies and Young Gun totally blind player Nathan Letts moving to for work. NSW however saw the return of former Australi- an player Ben Felton off his motorcycle land speed record on 2 wheels and NSW were also improved by the development of youngster Oscar Stubbs and the new Vice Captain Shaun Fitzpatrick. Inside this issue: The tournament this year was very even with teams going through the round robin not knowing who would make the semi final round until the last match. NCIC Cricket 1 Semi Final ranking saw NSW play QLD with NSW finishing first in their pool games going 3 and 1. finished 2nd and played in their Inclusion 2 Leagues semi final. NSW and SA advanced to play the final at McDonald Reserve in the Blind Cricket 3 Geelong suburb of Belmont. NSW batted first and made 5-217 with captain Lindsay Heaven top scoring with 78 off only 49 balls with Vice Captain Shaun Goalball 4 Fitzpatrick chipping in through the middle order with 46 off 35. SA got off to an early start with Stephen Palmer hitting 2 four’s off the first over but was then Calendar & 5 bowled by Shaun Fitzpatrick for 9. This left the SA team short making 8-191 off YouTube their 20 overs. Shaun Fitzpatrick was named player of the final pictured right Contact Us 6 and Lindsay Heaven best B2 category player pictured left. Team pictured below. Sponsors & 6 Vision Camp THE VISION BULLETIN

RAIDERS NARROWLY DEFEATED BY TAIPANS IN FINAL

Raiders Futsal were narrowly defeated by South Coast Taipans in the first division final of Athletes with Disability division one of the Football NSW State Futsal League. Raiders got off to a slow start but then fought back through an Ethan Scaturchio goal to cement his place as the teams leading Goal scorer in the season. Taipans eventually scored again and won the game 3-1, Taipans have many Australian representative players fresh off their Aus- tralian FFA Futsal National Championship win, the team are ex- perienced at the top level. Coach Stephanie Taylor said “ This is Raiders Futsal Logo picture a great launching pad for next season, we learned a lot”.

2019 INCLUSION LEAGUE NEWS

With the success of our Futsal and Touch Football Inclusion League teams, Blind Sports NSW is hoping to provide teams into the following 2019 Inclusion Leagues across NSW. These proposed leagues will really be a great breakthrough for people with low vision to expand their competition op- tions and achieve their sporting goals. A proposed expansion to the Futsal AWD League will see 4 proposed teams representing physical, sensory and intellectual groups. This will be a premier league which is looking to attract the best players in the state and for that matter the country. The proposed 7 a side version of the game will be played outdoors on a traditional 7 a side Paralympic pitch with minor rule adaptions. The teams will be represented by main stream clubs in a main stream association format supported by Sport NSW, Blacktown City Council and once terms are reached, Football NSW. Also coming is the new 3 on 3 Half Court Basketball League supported by Sport NSW and Basket- ball NSW. This league will run from May through August and will hopefully attract 8 teams in the league. More information to be released in February. Blind Sports NSW is calling for expressions of interest to fill 10 spots in this initial team. Sport NSW is currently consulting with AFL, Softball/Baseball and NRL to design inclusion leagues which represent their games while providing significant pathways for inclusion athletes.

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BLIND CRICKET NSW WANTS TO PLAY MORE CRICKET

Blind Cricket NSW will now focus on their domestic season and are look- ing for charity games where you will be able to play against their National Cricket Inclusion Championship team during the months of February and March. In edition to the charity games, Blind Cricket NSW will also play a series of domestic T20 games between club teams. Luke Murphy from Cricket NSW and CEO Murray Elbourn from Blind Sports NSW are working with Blind Cricket NSW President Mark Eschbank to organise this series of games for late February into March. Stay tuned for updates on the Sports button then Blind Cricket button of the website www.blindsportsnsw.com.au or register by calling Mark 0418 889 188. Blind Cricket NSW Logo picture

Gordon Cooper Variety Youth Blind Cricket NSW Shield games announced

After winning the 2018 edition of the Gordon Cooper Variety Youth Blind Variety NSW Logo above Cricket NSW and Alasdair bats for Shield, Game 1 sixers below was always go- ing to be very competitive at Sydney Acade- my of Sport in Narrabeen. Thunder won the toss and batted first scoring 70 runs off their 11 overs with Captain Ethan Scaturchio top scoring not out 34. Sixers reached the total with 2 in hand off 10 overs with Ruby and Isaac making great con- tributions with the bat. Captain Shaun Fitzpatrick of the Sixers said “This was a great win for the youth players, it’s a great experience and an important competition for Youth Blind Cricket”.

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IBSA Announce Penrith, Australia to host 2019 Goalball Youth World Championships

In December of 2018 IBSA officially announced that Penrith, Australia would be the site for the 2019 IBSA Goalball Youth World Championships. Australi- an Girls Team “Aussie Glow” will defend their World Championship title from Budapest 2017 and our Youth Boys team will compete at the Youth World Championships for the first time since 2013 in Colorado Springs. Blind Sports NSW will collaborate with Blind Sports Australia and Goalball Australia as the Local Organising Committee and work towards providing the IBSA Goalball best ever Youth Goalball event in the world. 1st Expressions of Interest will Logo be posted on www.goalball.com.au from January 4th.

Far left Aussie Glow at opening ceremony in Buda- pest. Bottom middle are the Original Youth Teams who played in 2013. GA, NSW Gov & BSA logos aacross the top of this pic collage.

NSW Goalball 4 Schools new brand launch NSW Goalball is rebranding its Goalball 4 Schools program with a new logo and a new look season for 2019 that will see regional champion- ships happen in schools districts including Orange, Riverina, New Eng- land, Northern Rivers, Wollongong, Newcastle and Central Coast in addi- tion to Sydney Metro. As a result of the 2019 IBSA Goalball Youth World Championships being held in August the school season will run in Term 1 & 2 this year. You can book in your school at www.goalball.com.au or email Liza at [email protected] or call Liza on 0287361243 to book a free lesson.

ROLLING 3 MONTH CALENDAR

Sat - Sun 10 to 15 January All Day Chiba, Japan Training Camp - Tournament Sat - Sun 12&13 January All Day ACPE / Sydney, NSW Youth Camp boys Mon - Sun 14 to 20 January All Day Narrabeen, NSW BS NSW Sydney Vision Recreation Camp 9:30am- Saturday 19 January Koola Park, Kilara Variety Youth Blind Cricket Game 1 12:30pm Mon - Fri 21 to 25 January Various Times Gellong, VIC Blind Cricket NCIC's 10:30am- Sunday 17 February Joe McAleer Park Variety Youth Blind Cricket Game 2 1:30pm 9:30-12:30/1- 24 Sunday February 4 PVRSC, Penrith NSW DTM Cup / Sydney City Cup RD 1 Sat - Sun 2&3 March All Day Brisbane, QLD Storm Camp Tuesday 12 March 10am - 1pm Sydney Metro Term 1 Netball Central Sat - Sun 9&10 March All Day Sydney, NSW Belles Camp Friday 15 March 10am - 1pm Bathurst Bathurst Indoor Sports Centre Sunday 17 March 10am - 1pm Bankstown Oval Variety Youth Blind Cricket Game 3 Monday 18 March 10am - 1pm Wollongong U of Wollongong G4S Regional Championships / Bolton 19 Tuesday March 9:30am-1pm Wollongong Park indr 2crt Wednesday 20 March 10am - 1pm Riverina Bolton Park G4S Regional Championships / Orange 21 Thursday March 9:30am-1pm Wagga PCYC 2 crt Friday 22 March 10am - 1pm ACT Queanbeyan Indoor Sports Centre Wednesday 27 March 10am - 1pm Newcastle UON The Forum G4S Regional Championships / Both in- 28 Thursday March 9:30am-1pm Newcastle/Central Coast door crts Friday 29 March 10am - 1pm Central Coast New Sport & Rec Centre Tuggrah Valentine Sports Park, 30&31 Sat - Sun March All Day NSW ABF Vision Impaired Camp 16 NEW VIDEOS ADDED TO BLINDSPORTSNSW YOUTUBE

Our YouTube channel has 16 new videos from Vision Camp, NSW Goalball 4 Schools, Blind Cricket NCIC’s and more. You can view our channel by clicking on this link below. Leave a com- ment or share these through social media to build awareness BLIND SPORTS NSW YOUTUBE >

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CONTACT US & Affiliated Blind Sports: Blind Sports NSW: Murray: 0427 186 734 / Sophie: 0414 767 724 Email: [email protected] Address: PO Box W292, Parramatta NSW 2150 Website: www.blindsportsnsw.com.au NSW Blind Golf: Graham: 0412 992 418 (sighted caddies needed) Blind Cricket NSW: Jason: 0402 227 540 / Mark: 0418 889 188 NSW Goalball: Liza 02 8736 1243 / 0468 760 249 - www.goalball.com.au

Sponsors & Partners

Back Page Story Headline / Vision Camp a BIG success

2019 Blind Sports NSW Summer Vision Camp was an amaz- ing experience supported and funded through the NDIS ILC Program. The camp was attended by 22 teenagers across NSW with a number of first time campers who experienced an inclusion sport session each morning, then two day ac- tivity sessions and a night session. Guide Dogs NSW/ACT and Hire Up also gave presentations to the campers. New activities this year included Gym session, Go Karting, Paint Balling-Laser Tag, Basketball and traditional favourites re- turned including Disco Night and traditional sports- activities.