Sporting Highlights *NEW TO 2009*

Stolz takes out Victorian PGA
Terrigal professional golfer, Andre Stolz, has won the Victorian PGA Championship.
Stolz played a bogey-free final round of 67 at the Sanctuary Lakes Club in early February finishing 2 strokes ahead if Stuart Bovier from Queensland. Stolz reached the peak of his career in 2004 when he won the US PGA Tour's Michelin Open in Las Vegas. But injury forced into retirement soon afterwards.

The Kooindah Waters Golf Club ambassador has made a remarkable return to the professional golfing ranks after tying for sixth place at the 2008 Australian Open. He purchased a driving range at Bateau Bay which led to his association with Kooindah Waters Golf Club. His return to the Australasian circuit this season will see him playing next in the Victorian Moonah Classic at the end of February.

New partnerships provide pathways for future Mariners
The Central Coast Mariners have confirmed two innovative community-based partnerships that will enhance the club’s existing talent identification and youth development pathways from local club level through to the National Youth League (NYL), Westfield W-League and Hyundai A-League.

The first will see the development and expansion of the Mariners Academy through a new scholarship program for 14 to 18-year-old boys in conjunction with the Central Coast Academy of Sport (CCAS). The new scholarship program will see elite young players from the Mariners’ grassroots network – which includes partnerships with football associations on the Central Coast, Gladesville-Hornsby and Ku-Ring-Gai – identified and offered expert high-level coaching between February and December each year.

Initially, there will be two scholarship squads based on the Central Coast and two based at Northern Sydney. The CCAS will provide additional services to the scholarship squads including, but not limited to, physiological testing, sports psychology and broader athlete services.

In a further boost to the new scholarship program, the Mariners have signed a long-term high performance partnership with Westfield’s Sports High School – commonly regarded as the premier football development school in the country.
Both partnerships have been signed and sealed and will begin imminently, with the first of the Mariners Academy scholarship programs set to commence in the coming weeks at Jubilee Park, The Entrance and at Knox Grammar School, Wahroonga.

February Mars Inspirational Athletes
Central Coast Academy of Sport Basketball scholarship holders, speed skater Grace Felsch and basketball player Jack Robilliard have been selected as Mars Inspirational Athletes for February.

In 2008 – her first year in speed skating, Grace Felsch was second in both the NSW and Queensland Championships and third in the National Championships. The 13 year old is part of the Erina Vikings Speed Skating team. Grace is in full training under coach Andrew McNee, and her next main aim is to compete in the European Championships in December, but to do that she has to raise $20,000 in sponsorship.

Jack Robilliard, who attends St. Edwards College at East Gosford, plays for the Gosford City Rebels Basketball Club and the Central Coast Academy of Sport Basketball squad. In 2007 he was selected in the NSW State Primary Schools team, chosen for NSW Country team in the Australian Junior Basketball Cup and nominated as the Gosford City Rebels Junior Player of the Year.

In 2008, the 14-year old was selected for the NSW Country Pacific Coast Slam tour and the NSW Under 16 state squad. So far this year Jack has captained the NSW Waratahs team that competed in and won the under 16 Men’s division of the 2009 Australian Junior Country Basketball Cup held in Albury in January.

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