2019 AGM Report

Reporting Period 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019

*Includes 2019 NSWTA Junior Regional event 13-14 July 2019*

CONTENTS

OVERVIEW ...... 3 FINANCE ...... 5 TECHNICAL ...... 6 Coaching...... 6 Selectors ...... 7 Referees ...... 8 High Performance Unit ...... 9 JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT ...... 11 MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA ...... 12 TOURNAMENTS ...... 12 2019 National League at Coffs Harbour (13-16 March 2019) ...... 12 2019 Junior Regional Championship at Orange (13-14 July 2019) ...... 15 ACHIEVEMENTS ...... 19 APPENDIX ...... 24

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OVERVIEW

This reporting period has been yet another successful time for Scorpions. Again in 2019 taking out another NTL Golden Boot Champion Permit and our tenth successive Junior Regional Champion Permit. We continue to hold both state junior and national open/senior champion permit titles. Additionally, we were once again awarded the NSWTA Region of the Year 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Our 2019 Junior Gala Day was held on Sunday 27 January, 2019 with 90 teams taking part at Nolan Reserve, North Manly.

For the third year running we held our Junior Elite Camp. This was held on 11-12 May 2019 at the Sydney Academy of Sport, Narrabeen. The acceptance rate was at 95%, with only a slight increase in the camp cost for those staying overnight, which included the Boys and Girls 14/16’s squads. The camp acted as our final trial weekend for our Boys and Girls 12’s, 14's and 16's teams. The camp also included the launch of the Scorpions Referees Development Program.

Scorpions made the decision to be as flexible as possible with attendance at the camp and this proved to be well received from parents. Plus communication and parental education was vital aiming to provide useful information including timelines via a number of infographics published via our social media channels (refer to Appendix).

Junior Regional preparations were challenging due to the cold winter weather and other competing winter sports and there was a great deal of negative talk around the timing of the event and the extremely cold temperatures at Orange. Scorpions again appointed Player Mentors to the Junior Regional campaign with Shellie Davis and Jackson Mills doing a great job as ambassadors at Orange. The mentors assisted both coaches and players providing excellent guidance and support, plus were the main focus of a Q&A session at our Saturday evening Junior Regional Dinner which 262 people attended including parents.

Scorpions received feedback from players, parents and affiliates on the North/South conference structure and the consistent feedback is that the Final was too many weeks after the conference events. Plus many are still questioning the feasibility of having the conference split, however with that said the feedback on the Southern Wagga Wagga event was very positive. The obvious challenges are winter sports but also the lengthy junior representative season.

Sydney Scorpions enjoyed another successful NTL taking out the Golden Boot Champion Permit honour yet again. We are now in the outright lead 8-7 over the South Sharks. Scorpions sent 11 teams and were successful winning the Senior Mixed, Men’s 30’s, Men’s 45’s, Men’s 50’, Men’s 55’s and Women’s 40’s divisions. Additionally runners up in the Women’s Open division with an extremely young and inexperienced team at this level, it was very rewarding to be able to give so many up and coming players from many affiliates the opportunity to compete at the national open level and play in the Grand Final against the Sharks on the stadium in front of the large finals day crowd.

Scorpions used Xero for their NTL levy and other invoicing which proved a success. Scorpions also inducted another five members into their Hall of Fame, which took place at the annual NTL Scorpions dinner on Friday 15 March, 2019. Many thanks to NSWTA General Manager Dean Russell who attended the dinner and spoke.

Scorpions continued to run several Sports Science initiatives, which are delivered through our High Performance Unit. Michael Donaghy does an excellent job as our Sports Science Director and we believe we lead in this area at state, national and even international level within the sport. It was great to see both NSWTA and TFA utilise Michael’s services at the 2018 State of Origin and Youth Trans-Tasman and 2019 FIT World Cup events.

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The Scorpions executive and committee would like to thank Brad Mitchell who will be stepping down as Technical Director at the upcoming AGM in September 2019. Brad has been an instrumental part of Scorpions success and is now employed with Touch Football . Additional thanks and congratulations to Stuart Geros who has taken up a position on the NSW Touch Association Board.

Anthony Dudeck Regional Director

2018-19 Sydney Scorpions Committee: Regional Director – Anthony Dudeck Assistant Regional Director – Brad Curl Regional Technical Director – Brad Mitchell Regional Finance Director – Tim Kitchingham Regional Juniors Director – Dave Nolan Regional Coaching Director – Brad Curl Regional Referees Director – Bill Slade Regional Selectors Director – Bruce Ager Regional High Performance Manager – Stuart Geros, Michael Donaghy Regional Sports Scientist – Michael Donaghy Regional Merchandise Managers – Tim Kitchingham, Michelle Geros Regional Communications Managers – Anthony Dudeck

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FINANCE

The Scorpions finance situation has been tightly managed this past year, due in part, to minimising our participation fees at both the 2019 NTL and Junior Regional events. Additionally, we are yet to claim any reimbursements against expenses from NSWTA.

The transition to Xero resulted in individual invoices to participants, making it a lot easier to keep track of monies owing and payments which has been an issue in the past. This equated to team management being able to be more responsible for the auditing of team payments and individuals will be deemed non-financial, where no levy payments are received.

At 2019 NTL we benefitted from an account’s administrator assisting us with invoicing and team management were able to follow up on all payments. This resulted in less stress and strain on the Executive and faster payments from members.

For the 2019 Junior Regionals Scorpions were registered to accept NSW Government Active Kids vouchers. A total of $5,400 or 54 players claimed the maximum $100 rebate via the voucher with Scorpions receiving reimbursements via Service NSW. This was favourably received especially via parents/guardians with thanks to NSW Touch for assisting with this set-up.

We continue to use PayPal and CommBiz which assist in more timely payments, whilst avoiding delays that are all too common with cheques. The only issue we now need to address is the approval of payments to creditors in a timely manner, so that we can best manage our cash flow going forward. This requires more communication between Executive, which will see us in an even stronger financial position in the future.

In relation to 2018/19, Sydney Scorpions will be working with around $25,000 in the bank, with the aim of finishing the year (2019) at around the $25,000 mark. It should be noted that NSWTA have changed their financial year to now be year-end 30th June each year, which has had a small impact on claims against expenses. This balance will reduce to around $12,000 to $15,000 until participation income for 2020 NTL occurs.

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TECHNICAL Coaching

The Scorpions coaching program continues to be extremely rich in talent and experience across all tournaments throughout 2019, with many coaches being appointed to roles for the 2018 and 2020 plus others in Australian Youth, Open and Senior roles.

Our 2019 NTL campaign was a successful one retaining the Golden Boot Champion Permit, yet again edging out the South Queensland Sharks. The coaching personnel appointed were strong and experienced across all divisions.

Our 2019 Junior Regional campaign was also a success with Scorpions taking out our tenth consecutive Champion Permit title and eleventh overall. It should be noted that the Manager role is an extremely important one and that future appointments need to be reviewed more closely to ensure that person or persons are the best fit for the team and fit into Scorpions culture.

The break-down of Junior Regional coaching staff from different Scorpions affiliates can be found below:

Head Coach Manly Warringah 6 75% Hills 2 25% Total = 8

Assistant Coach Manly Warringah 5 31% Hornsby 4 25% Hills 2 13% Ryde Eastwood 2 13% Northern Beaches 1 6% Parramatta 1 6% Scorpions 1 6% Total = 16

Manager Manly Warringah 8 80% Hills 2 20%

Total = 10

Congratulations to the following for their awards which were presented at the 2019 NTL Scorpions Dinner.

Junior Coach of the Year: Keith Smith & Edith Nathan Senior Coach of the Year: Ron Larcombe & Terry Cooper Manager of the Year: Megan Kennedy

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Selectors

The selection arm for Scorpions continues to be a strong and transparent process across all divisions due to the policies implemented in previous years.

Junior State Cup selection process has been enhanced with the TID process beginning at the Scorpions Junior Gala Day (held annually on the last weekend in January) followed by the Parramatta TA Twilight Gala event - both providing coaches and selectors more time to view players as opposed to solely relying on Junior State Cup. This results in more manageable squad sizes post Junior State Cup as opposed to previous years where selections were only made from Junior State Cup and viewing time was limited due to affiliate coaching role responsibilities, hence resulting in larger squads.

In 2019 we had the newly introduced Junior State Cup North and South conferences with Scorpions coaches and selectors present at both the Wagga Wagga and Port Macquarie events. The final 12/14/16’s team selections from Junior State Cup squads were held at our Junior Elite Camp in May 2019 with selectors already having detailed documentation from the TID already taken place. This allowed for greater detail in player feedback for those who missed selection.

The Open and Senior NTL divisions continue to be competitive and require selectors to oversee the process in several divisions, however often the coaches have most of the input in selecting their final team with assistance from selectors when required.

Current Elite Selectors: Tim Kitchingham - Level 7 & NSWTA Selectors Panel member Barry Gibson - Level 6 Brett Gillard - Level 5 David McDonald - Level 4 Jim Randall

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Referees

Once again, our representative level referees have been outstanding and continue to be a credit to the Scorpions region. We are continuing to develop referees at affiliate level, having once again provided several courses throughout the region in the past twelve months.

The 2019 Junior Regionals were held at Orange. Scorpions had ten referees who were selected to attend this event, including Rina Janson, Daniel Oliver, Keaton Dal Santo, Phoebe Carter, Eric Chaney, Leon Gonzales, Andrew Smith, Gary Watman, Jason Young and Peter Cooper.

The TRYS programme has now been running for over ten years. During this period Scorpions have had eight referees participating and five referees have reached their Level 4 status. We currently have Phoebe Carter and Yelson Qian from Norths Touch Association still in the program and as part of the TRYS 2019 selection process Daniel Oliver from Norths Touch Association has been selected.

As part of the lead up to the 2019 many of our referees attended the annual Scorpions Day, whereby our teams play trial games against each other. These games are highly beneficial to both the players and referees.

Scorpions had seventeen referees attend the 2019 NTL tournament. Congratulations to Anthony Smith, Bill Slade, Paul Tesoriero and Kathleen Spence who achieved the ultimate in being appointed to a Grand Final. We also had three referees who received upgrades including Peter Khoudair (Westmead) Level 5, Peter Cooper (Norths) Level 6 and Richard Norris (Norths) Level 6.

The 2019 NSWTA Referee Awards evening was recently held at Bankstown Sports Club with congratulations to the Scorpions referees who were elevated to the ranks of State Graded Referees and presented with their NSW State Blazers. They included Bill Calleja (Norths) and Micah Rogers (Hills). The following referees received awards at the evening:

NSWTA Service Awards 5 years: David Dal Santo 20 years: Kim Perry 2018 Scorpions Referee of the Year: Angela Budai 2019 Talented Referees Youth Squad: Daniel Oliver 2019 NSWTA Junior State Cup Referee of the Tournament Northern Conference: Joseph Aboud

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High Performance Unit

Sydney Scorpions once again utilised their High Performance Unit, with input led via our Sports Science Director, Michael Donaghy. Michael continues to provide an abundance of value to not only the permit but additionally to many Scorpions affiliates. A summary of his initiates for this reporting period include below:

• Customised 800ml Scorpions water bottle. Following on from 2018 once again we produced a light green version of this bottle for both NTL and the Junior Regional events • Functional Warm-Up (FWU) Version 3. Additions to the FWU for 2018 included Side Step Cutting Exercise, Heel and Toes, plus introduced Closed Chain Hamstring Activation exercise (non-fatiguing). The 2019 version included an ACL Prehab exercise called “1, 2 Stop” both forwards and backwards. This was successfully trialed at NTL by the Women’s Open. Michael kept the Closed Chain Hamstring activation exercise and added a PNF (Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation is a more advanced form of flexibility) version for players that were feeling overly tight in the hamstrings • Additionally, the Women’s Open trialed Roller Massage (myofascial release) five minutes before the Functional Warm-up as a means to increasing players range of joint motion, which also means that less time is required to be spent in warm-up • Scorpions NTL physiotherapist Nathan Duguid reported that the Women’s Open team suffered no non-contact soft tissue injuries. Michael then rolled out the new protocol to the Australian teams at the training camp two weeks before the 2019 FIT World Cup • One of the problems with Ice Baths is the lack of consistency of temperature. At NTL Michael used a thermometer and timer to prescribe 10 minutes Ice baths at 10 degrees or 15 minutes at 15 degrees Ice Bath protocol. On the first day the ice baths were left outside so by late afternoon the direct sun had the water temperature at 30 degrees…so we relocated some of the ice baths inside the tent. Sharing a mobile storage freezer for the ice with the region in the next tent was beneficial • Michael produce two new infographics, one on hydration before, during and after games and the other for Recovery at an endurance style tournament (refer to Appendix) • Following on from 2018 Michael successfully GPS tested Scorpions players from the State of Origin NSW Women’s Open. The results will be fed across to the NSW HPU for NSW Coaching Director Tony Trad who will make guidelines to state teams. Michael has indicated that wingers staying on most of the match will approach 4.5-5kms a game whilst links and middles typically only run 3kms with 12- 20% of the distance at high speed running. The big news is that GPS recorded 200 small accelerations and deceleration on average per player per game. Given that these are movements are eccentrically challenging it is the first time we can document just how fatiguing elite level touch can be. Based upon these new findings Michael has expressed concern about over training players especially with the new NRL Touch Premiership competition being added to the elite sports calendar. Players need to consider becoming stronger and learn how to monitor training loads as they play more tournaments over a 12- month period. The accumulated effects of fatigue can be quite deleterious and for our elite players requires more consideration and action

Orange for Junior Regionals in July was always going to be an extremely challenging event, and it didn’t disappoint. Michael’s approach took some time to develop as his focus was on exertional heat stress at the Malaysian World Cup, where it hit 51.9 degrees with no wind. Contrast this with Orange with 40 km p/h wind, snow and wind-chill factor of -7 degrees and it is fair to say that both events really strained our sports science delivery.

Some of Michaels Junior Regional recommendations included the use of heating inside tents, provision of extra-long winter coats, wearing of compression garments and beanies, etc. during play, blankets and long jackets in the sub box, and a switch to “comfort foods” including hot chocolate, soups and lots of carbohydrates. The message given was to treat and plan for this tournament as if you were going to the snow.

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As per 2018 we booked an indoor pool facility to facilitate recovery and this was used by most teams at Orange. Pool recovery also allowed teams to bond and it gave Michael the chance to reinforce directly to players what they needed to do overnight and in the morning to prepare for the final series. Michael stressed the importance of keeping hydrated during the cold and explained even at zero degrees you can still dehydrate which will negatively impact performance.

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JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT

The junior program at Scorpions has been the backbone of success over the past ten years and this period for the permit has been no different.

The Scorpions Boys and Girls U10/12 Merit training session was not held due to the introduction of the 12’s divisions at the 2019 Junior Regional event.

Once again, our High Performance Unit co-ordinated our Scorpions Boys & Girls 12/14/16’s Junior Elite Camp acting as our final selection trial weekend on 11-12 May 2019 at the Sydney Academy of Sport, Narrabeen.

Players attended the two-day camp which was a combination of skills, drills, trial games and sports science education. Only a few players invited to the camp declined and couldn’t attend and as a result we had an acceptance of squad positions for the camp at 95%. A handful of boys could only attend on the Saturday due to Rugby League commitments on the Sunday.

The break-down of our Junior Regional final team players from Scorpions affiliates can be found below:

Manly Warringah 55 49% Hills 20 18% Northern Beaches 17 15% Parramatta 16 14% Hornsby 3 3% Carlingford 1 1% Total = 112 players

Scorpions again appointed Player Mentors to the Junior Regional event with Shellie Davis and Jackson Mills doing a great job as Scorpions ambassadors at Orange. The mentors assisted both coaches and players providing excellent guidance and support, plus were the focus during a Q&A session at our Saturday evening Junior Regional Dinner which 262 people attended including parents.

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MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA

This year we once again leveraged our website and Facebook as our main means of communication with our members. We leveraged our Scorps TV social media campaign in the lead up to and at the 2019 Junior Regional tournament. Utilising Facebook and YouTube, Scorps TV continues to provide our junior players, parents and supporters engaging video content which generates interest in our brand and the sport.

At both the 2019 NTL and Junior Regional events we engaged the services of Mark Bax and Matt Long for action photography as well as David Kennedy from NRL Films. The video produced via NRL Films included 30 second highlight clips and a longer 3 minute version from both events and closer to the lead-up to the NTL 2020 campaign Scorpions will release further footage as a promotional tool.

For both tournaments in 2019 Scorpions continued to use Inferno as our main apparel supplier. Our uniform designs and branding are always extremely important to Scorpions with both Tim Kitchingham and Michelle Geros doing an outstanding job in relation to gear design and distribution to our teams. Our ISC long winter jackets proved to be a real positive addition to our product line and were very popular in Orange.

As always Scorpions is looking for new and innovative means to engage our members and this will continue. TOURNAMENTS 2019 National Touch League at Coffs Harbour (13-16 March 2019)

Sydney Scorpions enjoyed another successful NTL taking out the Golden Boot Champion Permit honour yet again, we are now in the outright lead 8-7 over the South Queensland Sharks. Scorpions sent eleven teams and were successful winning the Senior Mixed, Men’s 30’s, Men’s 45’s, Men’s 50’, Men’s 55’s and Women’s 40’s divisions.

Additionally runners up in the Women’s Open division with an extremely young and inexperienced team at this level, it was very rewarding to be able to give so many up and coming players from many clubs the opportunity to compete at the national open level and play in the Grand Final against the Sharks on the stadium in front of the large finals day crowd.

Scorpions also inducted another five members into their Hall of Fame, which took place at the annual NTL Scorpions dinner on Friday 15 March, 2019. They included Andrew Windsor, Anthony Dudeck, Dylan Hennessey, Jann Rose and Mark Leonard. Many thanks to Dean Russell who attended the dinner and spoke.

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NTL 2019 Grand Final Results: Women’s Open: Sharks 7 def. Scorpions 2 Men’s 30s: Scorpions 8 def. Sharks 6 Senior Mixed: Scorpions 6 def. Raiders 2 Men’s 40s: Sharks 6 def. Scorpions 4 Women’s 40s: Scorpions 3 def. Sharks 2 Men’s 45s: Scorpions 6 def. Sharks 3 Women’s 45s: Broncos 3 def. Scorpions 0 Men’s 50s: Scorpions 5 def. Cyclones 4 Men’s 55s: Scorpions 5 def. Pineapples 4

NTL 2019 Coaching Appointments: Men's Open Head Coach - Brad Curl Head Coach - Jason Martin Assistant Coach - Matt Lawson Manager - Julianne Bowen

Women's Open Head Coach - Anthony Dudeck Head Coach - Roha Paki Assistant Coach - Craig Beacroft Manager – Michelle Geros

Mixed Open Coach - Barry Gibson Assistant Coach - Justin Creighton Manager - Robyn Maiolo

Senior Mixed Head Coach - Terry Joe Assistant Coach - Shannon Warren Manager - Simon Kowald

Men's 30s Head Coach - Terry Cooper Manager - Christine Cooper

Men's 40s Head Coach - Ron Larcombe

Manager - Paul Macpherson

Men's 45s Head Coach - Ian Kalms Assistant Coach – Nhut Trinh Manager - Andre Bali

Men's 50s Head Coach - Brett Gillard Manager - Aron Watson

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Men's 55s Head Coach - Cliff Lyons Manager - Caren Friend

Women's 40s Head Coach - Lynda Robertson Manager - Kerrie Doyle

Women's 45s Head Coach - Phil McIlwraith Assistant Coach - Monique Nolan Manager - Megan Kennedy

NTL 2019 Player of the Final Awards: Men’s 30’s – John Kennedy Men’s 45’s – Willie Chan Men’s 50’s – James Marks Men’s 55’s – David Chueng Senior Mixed – Simon Kowald (Male) & Charlotte Henry (Female)

NTL 2019 Team Awards: Women's Open Jess Nagy - Boland Medal Lala Duff - Players Player Coaches Awards - Jess Nagy, Liv Steer, Lucy McDonald

Senior Mixed Kasimilo Fogota - Coaches Award Briar Turley - Players Player Male Rebecca Szewcow - Players Player Female

Men's 30's John Kennedy - Players Player

Men's 45's Mark Leonard - Players Player John Gosper - Coaches Award

Women's 40's Karen Ingram - Coaches Awards

Scorpions NTL Support Staff: NTL Tour Leader - Stuart Geros TFA Liaison - Anthony Dudeck & Tim Kitchingham Accommodation - Kerrie Doyle Playing Gear & Merchandise - Tim Kitchingham NTL Finance - LeAnh Cranna Function Co-ordinator - Michelle Geros Referees Co-ordinator - Bill Slade Coaching Co-ordinator - Brad Curl Medical Co-ordinator - Anthony Dudeck Head Medical - Steve Cunningham

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Medical Staff – Nathan Duguid, Emma Williams, Garry Heskett, Robyn Walsh Sports Science - Michael Donaghy

2019 NTL Golden Boot Points: 1st Sydney Scorpions 87pts 2nd South Queensland Sharks 73pts 3rd Brisbane City Cobras 58pts 4th Hunter Western Hornets 43pts 5th Victoria Storm 25pts 6th 23pts 7th ACT Raiders 19pts 2019 Junior Regional Championship at Orange (13-14 July 2019)

Sydney Scorpions once again continued their dominance of the Junior Regionals claiming their tenth consecutive Regional Championship title and eleventh title in total. The tournament bought with it a number of challenges including the timing and weather conditions during the event. Scorpions have now held both the National Touch League (Open and Seniors) and Junior Regional champion permit titles for eight of the past nine years running.

Fifty teams from the six regions – Sydney Mets, Sydney Scorpions, Sydney Rebels, Southern Suns, Hunter Western Hornets, Northern Eagles and this year for the first time ACT Raiders – competed at Orange in chilly wintery conditions. For the first time, this year’s event welcomed U12’s into the mix along with the 14’s, 16’s and 18’s Boys and Girls divisions.

In the new Boys 12’s division three new Scorpions coaches in Jonathan Palau, Craig Lowe and Liam Liston were making their debut. The team won all their pool games except one which was a draw. The team went on to win a tight semi-final 2-1 against Rebels and then suffered their only defeat in the tournament against the Hornets 4-3 in the Grand Final. Overall a very pleasing performance from all involved with a bright future ahead for many of these players who will surely represent Scorpions for many years to come.

In the Girls 12’s the experienced coach Gloria Berryman was aided by Tim Sleigh and Kylie Nicholas. Ava Jones and Tia Matthews were amongst the stand-out players with the team winning their semi-final 2-1 against Mets and then knocking off the undefeated Hornets in the Grand Final by 2-0. What an amazing experience for this team of talented young girls taking out their first Junior Regional title in their first attempt.

In the Boys 14’s Scorpions once again had three new coaches in Harry Berryman, Nathan Wong and Mark Jones. The team only lost one game all tournament, that being in the round game against Hornets 2-1. However, they bounced back from that minor setback to strongly beat Suns 9-3 in the semi-final and Mets 3- 2 in the Grand Final. Joseph Teaupa and Tylan Black-Berryman were two of the strong performers for the team. Well done to all three new coaches on success on their first outing for Scorps.

The Girls 14’s were rated highly coming into the event with a number of strong players from affiliates that performed well at Junior State Cup. Coaches Keith Smith, Trevor McDougall and Andre Bali would have been happy with the team undefeated in their round games including a 5-0 win over Mets. However, Mets bounced back strongly in the semi-final to knock off the highly fancied Scorpions by 3-2 in a nerve racking drop-off. Scorps led early but couldn’t put the Mets away leading to the drop-off. The Mets went on to finish the job by winning the Grand Final. Strong performers for the team included Raphaella Perigo, Mackenzie Davis, Marrisa Stubbs and Milla Elaro.

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There was quiet confidence amongst the Boys 16’s team with coach Matt Lawson aided by Ricky Hetherington and Nhut Trinh. The team only lost one round game to the Hornets 6-5 and then faced off against the Mets in the semi-final only to go down 3-1 with Mets going on to win the title. Definitely a lot of talent to work with in years to come with all players benefiting from this regional event.

The Girls 16’s backed up their championship title from 2018 with another undefeated stellar tournament. Coaches Edith Nathan, Carol Jones and Charmayne Nathan would have been very confident going into the Grand Final after a 8-3 semi-final victory. The semi-final win over Northern Eagles saw the Scorpions play some outstanding running touch football only letting Eagles back into the game slightly towards the end when it was all but over. The Grand Final win was against the Hornets 4-2 with Emily Smith named Player of the Final. Co- captains Kiiahla Duff and Lara Wilkinson led the team admirably all tournament.

A young Scorpions Boys 18’s team had a number of changes leading into the event, with the loss of the talented Flynn Angles Corke too big a hurdle to jump. That said coaches Brad Curl and Tim Kitchingham did see many positive signs for next year with the team making it to the semi-finals only to get beaten 5-2 to the Mets. The team were led by co-captains Ethan Klein and Nate Scrange. A strong Hornets team went onto beat Mets in the Grand Final with Josh Menzies being awarded the prestigious Scorpions Medal.

A star studded Girls 18’s team continued the domination of this division with yet another undefeated championship title. The team was coached by Roha Paki with Kalani Duff and Carly Easterbrook assisting. The team won their semi-final 4-2 over Mets setting up a Grand Final show down against the Hornets. Lucy McDonald was named Player of the Final with the Scorpions winning 3-0 in the game that mattered. Players Player for the Scorpions was Jade Pond after having a very strong tournament on debut.

Overall Scorpions claimed four of the eight divisions on offer. Whilst the Scorpions were dominant they were pushed yet again by the Hunter Western Hornets, who also participated in six finals and claimed two titles in Boys 12’s and Boys 18’s divisions. Sydney Mets also had a strong showing winning two divisions and finishing third in the overall Champion Permit title. In 2020 the event will head to the Central Coast and return to Orange in 2021 in a warmer time of the year.

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Junior Regionals 2019 Coaching Appointments: Boys 12’s Boys 16’s Head Coach - Jonathan Palau Head Coach - Matt Lawson Assistant Coach - Craig Lowe Assistant Coach – Ricky Hetherington Assistant Coach – Liam Liston Assistant Coach - Nhut Trinh

Girls 12’s Girls 16’s Head Coach - Gloria Berryman Head Coach - Edith Nathan Assistant Coach - Tim Sleigh Assistant Coach - Carol Jones Assistant Coach - Kylie Nicholas Assistant Coach - Charmayne Nathan

Boys 14’s Boys 18’s Head Coach - Harry Berryman Head Coach - Brad Curl Assistant Coach - Nathan Wong Assistant Coach - Tim Kitchingham Assistant Coach - Mark Jones Girls 18’s Girls 14’s Head Coach - Roha Paki Head Coach - Keith Smith Assistant Coach - Kalani Duff Assistant Coach - Trevor McDougall Assistant Coach - Carly Easterbrook Assistant Coach - Andre Bali

Junior Regionals 2019 Results: Girls 12’s: Champions Sydney Scorpions 2 Hunter Western Hornets 0 Scorpions Medal: Ava Jones Players Player: Tia Matthews Player of the Final: Tia Matthews

Boys 12’s: Grand Finalists Hunter Western Hornets 4 Sydney Scorpions 3 Scorpions Medal: Tamoko Berryman-Duff Players Player: Max Davies Coaches Award: Jackson Ellia

Girls 14’s: Semi-Finalists Scorpions Medal: Raphaella Perigo Coaches Awards: Mackenzie Davis, Marrisa Stubbs, Milla Elaro

Boys 14’s: Champions Sydney Scorpions 3 Sydney Mets 2 Scorpions Medal: Joseph Teaupa Player of the Final: Tylan Black-Berryman

Girls 16’s: Champions Sydney Scorpions 4 Hunter Western Hornets 2 Scorpions Medal: Kiiahla Duff Coaches Award: Lara Wilkinson Player of the Final: Emily Smith

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Boys 16’s: Semi-Finalists Scorpions Medal: William Hickey

Girls 18’s: Champions Sydney Scorpions 3 Hunter Western Hornets 0 Scorpions Medal: Kate Ryan Players Player: Jade Pond Coaches Award: Paris Mooney Player of the Final: Lucy McDonald

Boys 18’s: Semi-Finalists Scorpions Medal: Josh Menzies

Good Sports Team 2019: Sydney Scorpions Girls 18’s

Regional Championship: 1st Sydney Scorpions 91pts 2nd Hunter Western Hornets 84pts 3rd Sydney Mets 78pts

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ACHIEVEMENTS

2019 TFA NTL – Golden Boot Champion Permit 2019 NSWTA Junior Regionals – Champion Permit NSWTA Region of the Year 2017-18 NSWTA Region of the Year 2018-19

Sydney Scorpions Medal & Trophy Winners 2019: Nolan Medal Boys 12’s – Tamoko Berryman-Duff Nolan Medal Girls 12’s – Ava Jones Nolan Medal Boys 14’s – Tylan Black-Berryman Nolan Medal Girls 14’s – Raphaella Perigo Nolan Medal Boys 16’s – William Hickey Nolan Medal Girls 16’s – Kiiahla Duff Nolan Medal Boys 18’s – Josh Menzies Nolan Medal Girls 18’s – Kate Ryan Sarah Peattie Medal – Lucy McDonald Sam Brisby Medal – Ethan Klein JR Club Captains – Ethan Klein & Lucy McDonald

Men’s Elite 8 Boland Trophy – Sam Kelley Women’s Elite 8 Boland Trophy – Jessica Nagy Mixed Open – Shellie Davis Senior Mixed – Briar Turley Men’s 30’s – John Kennedy Women’s 40’s – Belinda Patterson Men’s 40’s – Darren Reynoldson Women’s 45’s – Monique Nolan Men’s 45’s – Mark Leonard Men’s 50’s – James Marks Men’s 55’s – David Cheung

Junior Coach of the Year: Keith Smith & Edith Nathan Senior Coach of the Year: Ron Larcombe & Terry Cooper Manager of the Year: Megan Kennedy Referee of the Year: Angela Budai Regional Directors Award (Brett Gillard Medal): Michael Donaghy

Outstanding Achievement at Affiliate Level: Hills Hornets First Premier League Team – Women’s Open Hills Hornets Premier Inclusion League Champions Manly Warringah Vawdon Cup Women’s Open Champions

In Appreciation Awards: Kerrie Doyle, Michelle Geros, Julianne Bowen – For administration support for Sydney Scorpions during NTL 2019 Parramatta Touch Association – For the use of Doyle Ground for Scorpions Day, team training & junior selection trials Manly Touch Association – For the use of Nolan Reserve for team training and Scorpions Junior Gala Day Medical Team – The Healthy Body organisation for providing our expert medical team Zöe Zinetti – Touch National Events Manager

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Sydney Scorpions Hall of Fame 2019 Inductees: Andrew Windsor Anthony Dudeck Dylan Hennessey Jann Rose Mark Leonard

NSW Touch Football Merit Team Representatives: Girls 12’s NSW Touch Football Merit Team Middles: Waiara ELLIS, Ava JONES, Logan LEMUSU Links: Kelsey BERRYMAN, Jazzy JAMES Winger: Tia MATTHEWS Utility: Amelia HOLLIS

Boys 12’s NSW Touch Football Merit Team Middles: Tamoko BERRYMAN-DUFF, Taiaroa LOWE, Jarvis HEMMINGS Link: Beau ALEXANDER Winger: Luke TAKCHI

Girls 14’s NSW Touch Football Merit Team Middle: Zara HALLIDAY Links: Olivia Rose INKSTER, Raphaelle PERIGO Winger: Alyssa MEDVED

Boys 14’s NSW Touch Football Merit Team Middle: Tylan BLACK-BERRYMAN Link: Lehi HOPOATE Winger: Alfred Mikas DE JESUS III Utility: Thomas KLEM

Girls 16’s NSW Touch Football Merit Team Middles: Kiiahla DUFF, Emily SMITH, Grace CARPENTER Links: Holli RAAFF, Layla RITCHIE, Maddison BINDING, Millie DURDEVIC Wingers: Sailor PERRETT, Hannah STACEY

Boys 16’s NSW Touch Football Merit Team Middles: Finn WATKINS, Oskar WARNER Link: Lachoneus PAKI Winger: Cuban PORTER-SHEEN

NSW Touch Development representatives that will participate at the 2019 National Youth Championships in Kawana, Queensland from September 18-21.

NSW Touch Development Boys Development Team: Alexander Nolan Cuban Porter-Sheen Decan Ahipene Dylan Bosschieter Ethan Klein Nate Scranage Oskar Warner Tom Jarrett

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Matt Scranage (Coach) Jackson Mills (Assistant Coach)

NSW Touch Development Girls Development Team: Isabella Geros Layla Ritchie Lucy McDonald Molly Donkin Sophie Wickham Tyler Pelligra Roha Paki (Assistant Coach) Nhut Trinh (Manager)

2018/19 NSWTA Blues Service & Other Award Recipients: Tracey Elliott – Carlingford Touch Association Craig Nicholls – Carlingford Touch Association Brad Curl – Hills Touch Association Roha Paki – Manly Warringah Touch Association Caren Friend – Manly Warringah Touch Association Peter Smith – Northern Beaches Touch Association Gaby Georges – Parramatta Touch Association Tanya Hetherington – Parramatta Touch Association Michelle Geros – Sydney Scorpions

Sydney Scorpions Affiliate of the Year: Manly Warringah Touch Association

Overall State Affiliate of the Year: Manly Warringah Touch Association & Bankstown Sports Touch Association

Sydney Scorpions Administrator of the Year: Katrina McIlwraith – Hills Hornets Touch Association

Junior Team of the Year: Manly Sea Eagles Girls 18’s

Junior Female Player of the Year: Billie Taylor – Manly Sea Eagles

Junior Coach of the Year: Roha Paki – Manly Sea Eagles

Region of the Year: Sydney Scorpions

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NSWTA Junior Regionals – Champion Permit Titles: 2019 Sydney Scorpions – 14/16/18’s at Orange 2018 Sydney Scorpions – 14/16/18’s at Penrith 2017 Sydney Scorpions – 14/16/18’s at Ballina 2016 Sydney Scorpions – 14/16/18’s at Parkes 2015 Sydney Scorpions – 14/16/18’s at Penrith 2014 Sydney Scorpions – 14/16/18’s at Goulburn 2013 Sydney Scorpions – 14/16/18’s at Wagga Wagga 2012 Sydney Scorpions – 14/16/18’s at Foster 2011 Sydney Scorpions – 14/16’s at Penrith 2010 Sydney Scorpions – 14/16’s at Orange 2009 Southern Suns – 14/16’s at Wollongong 2008 Sydney Scorpions – 14/16’s at Foster 2007 Southern Suns – 14/16’s at Wollongong 2006 Sydney Mets – 14/16’s at Nelsons Bay 2005 Sydney Mets – 14/16’s at Penrith 2004 Southern Suns – 14/16’s at Orange 2003 Southern Suns – 14/16’s at Wallsend 2002 Northern Eagles – 14/16’s at Tempe

NSWTA Junior Regionals – Championship Title Totals: Sydney Scorpions – 11 Southern Suns – 4 Sydney Mets – 2 Northern Eagles – 1

TFA National Touch League – Champion Permit Golden Boot Titles: 2019 Sydney Scorpions 2018 Sydney Scorpions 2017 Sydney Scorpions 2016 South Qld Sharks 2015 Sydney Scorpions & South Queensland Sharks (Tied) 2014 Sydney Scorpions 2013 Sydney Scorpions 2012 Sydney Scorpions 2011 Brisbane City Cobras 2010 Sydney Scorpions & South Queensland Sharks (Tied) 2009 South Queensland Sharks 2008 Sydney Mets 2007 South Queensland Sharks 2006 South Queensland Sharks 2005 Sydney Mets 2004 Sydney Mets 2003 South Queensland Sharks

TFA National Touch League – Champion Permit Golden Boot Title Totals: Sydney Scorpions – 8 South Queensland Sharks – 7 Sydney Mets – 3 Brisbane City Cobras – 1

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TFA National Touch League – Open Division Titles 2018 Women’s Elite 8: NSW Scorpions 4 Qld Broncos 3 2017 Women’s Elite 8: NSW Scorpions 8 Qld Broncos 5 2014 Women’s Elite 8: NSW Scorpions 7 NSW Mets 6 2011 Men’s Elite 8: NSW Scorpions 7 NSW Mets 6 2010 Men’s Opens: Sydney Scorpions 7 Gold Coast Sharks 3 2003 Mixed Opens: Sydney Scorpions 7 Gold Coast Sharks 5 2002 Mixed Opens: Sydney Scorpions 7 Sydney Mets 5 2000 Men’s Opens: Sydney Scorpions 6 Brisbane City Cobras 4 1999 Mixed Opens: Sydney Scorpions 5 Sydney Rebels 4 1999 Men’s Opens: Sydney Scorpions 3 Brisbane City Cobras 2 1998 Mixed Opens: Sydney Scorpions 6 Gold Coast Sharks 5 1998 Men’s Opens: Sydney Scorpions 4 Sun West Razorbacks 3 1997 Men’s Opens: Sydney Scorpions 4 Brisbane City Cobras 3

NRL Touch Premiership 2019 Women’s Grand Final: 4 2 Parramatta Eels – Minor Premiers & Grand Finalists

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