Lalor Sports President Night 2025

Celebrating our Local Sports

VIDEO

Last Thursday, 2 October, I had the pleasure of hosting the annual sports presidents night for Lalor. This is a night in Werribee that brings together in one room people from across sports to celebrate our local sports, our local achievements and our local young people. The event brought together club presidents, volunteers, young athletes and families from right across the electorate. It was a celebration of local sport, community pride and the people who keep clubs running week in and week out. It gave me an opportunity to thank the many volunteers, coaches, committee members and parents whose efforts ensure our clubs continue to thrive. From early morning set-ups to fundraising and mentoring young players, their contribution goes far beyond game day, and nights like this remind us that sport is about connection, inclusion and community spirit.

We were privileged to hear from our own local Olympian, Amy Cashin, a proud young woman raised in Werribee. Amy has represented Australia in the 3,000-metre steeplechase at both the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the Paris 2024 Olympics and, most recently, at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. It was wonderful to welcome Amy home and for her to have the opportunity to share her knowledge and her insight with local coaches and some local sporting champions. Alongside her athletic career, Amy has recently completed her PhD on coaches' mental health, showing the same discipline off the track as she does on it. Her message of resilience and balance deeply resonated with everyone present.

We also celebrated some local sporting champions. Jett Lewer, who plays lacrosse, represented Victoria in the under-18s and played for the Australia under-16s at the APLU sixes in South Korea. Addison Bishop-Worn, who plays baseball with the Werribee Giants and was selected for Australia's under-18 world cup squad, was key to Victoria's 2023 youth championship win. Ben Howard, who plays baseball, was senior state champion with Aces Sporting Club and was selected for the under-18 US baseball tour. Alexis Campbell, who plays basketball and represents Vic Metro, competed at the national under-14 club championships but also finished in the top five in the Western Football Netball League under-16 best and fairest.

We also had a lot to celebrate locally with club achievements. We recognised some remarkable premierships, from the Wyndham City Rhinos and the Glen Orden netball club to the Werribee Softball Association, which hosted Victoria's largest association-run tournament, with over 500 players. The Werribee Districts were premiers. The Werribee Hockey Club were premiers in two divisions this year. The Wyndham Vale Football Club brought home the premiership as well. Although the colleagues here from Queensland may claim to be the national champs, in Lalor we have lots of champs.