Bunbury Geographe Sports Awards 2023: Region’s finest nominated for sporting excellence

The 2023 Bunbury Geographe Sport Awards evening will be held on April 14 at the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre.

Facilitated by the City of Bunbury in collaboration with neighbouring councils, the awards will recognise athletes and officials across a wide range of categories.

It is also the dawning of an era for the longest-running sport award in WA — the AJ (Tood) Buswell South Western Times Sports Star of the Year.

This prestigious honour will be at the forefront of the awards ceremony next Friday night and will continue to do so.

Justin Fris, who is one of three award judges, takes a look at all of the nominees heading into the ceremony:

AJ (Tood) Buswell South Western Times Sports Star of the Year

Nominees: Rennie Meadmore (football), Nina Kennedy (athletics), Kye Blight (speedway), Jack Robinson (surfing), Gary Phipps (croquet), Lekeisha Pergoliti (boxing), Damian Lane (racing), Donnell Wallam (netball), Justin Prentice (pacing), Alex Saffy (swimming-Para), Kyle Lee (swimming), Lucy Fiore (racing)

As always, the 12 finalists for the AJ (Tood) Buswell South Western Times Sports Star of the Year are composed of talented athletes across a multitude of sports.

Several female athletes — including pole-vault star Nina Kennedy, boxing up-and-comer Lekeisha Pergoliti and Busselton Football Club women’s coach Rennie Meadmore — are likely to feature prominently in the competition, although their male counterparts have also had an impressive 2022.

West Coast Eagles utility Brady Hough received the honour last year for his performances during 2021, becoming the first footballer to win the award.

Myles Junior Sports Star

Nominees: Isabella Bidesi (little athletics), Chayse Martinson (football), Rhianna Di Giuseppe (little athletics/athletics), Lewis Brace (soccer), Waireena Pohe (hockey), Olivia Doddy (surf lifesaving), Connor Wright (mountain biking).

Of all the categories, this one is most likely to have garnered the most discussion amongst competition judges and will have everyone on the edge of their seats throughout the night.

Service to Sport

Nominees: Roslyn Ruland (soccer), Graham Jones (netball x2), Raymond Batt (bowls), Julie Jenson (swimming), Jason Reid (cricket, football), Emma Jamieson (cricket), Kylie Glancy (netball).

Reid, who spends countless hours each week giving back to community sport, is the clear standout in this field, however, will the judges have seen it the same way?

Team

Nominees: Carey Park Football Club (colts), Coastal Rowing WA, City of Bunbury Surf Lifesaving Club (women’s surf boat), Bunbury and Districts Cricket Association senior 1st XI.

All of the nominated teams have performed well within their chosen sports, however, how did they stack up against each other?

Coach

Nominees: Tennille Panuccio (basketball, netball), David Brook (soccer), Peter Dohnt (soccer), James Duncan (surf lifesaving)

Panuccio’s efforts at helping others in both basketball and netball immediately catch the eye, as do the hard-working deeds of all nominees.

Event

Nominees: Netball WA South West and Peel Regional Championships (x2), Bunbury Open Carnival (swimming), Bunbury Parkrun, 2022 Brecken Health Women’s Triathlon, 2022 Sunsmart Country Club Carnival

All events were judged on not only their size, but positive promotion of their sport and benefits to the Bunbury/South West region.

Official

Nominees: Bailey Harkness (netball x2), Julia Blandford (swimming), Teneya Jones (netball), Paul Lever (little athletics)

Each nominated official would be a worthy recipient of this award, with netball well represented.

Para-athlete

Nominees: Brad Barclay (Volleyball), Bel Dabic (swimming)

This category is one to watch, given both Barclay and Dabic are almost impossible to split, given their sustained success last year.