Football NSW a finalist for four NSW Sports Federation Annual Sports Awards
The categories in which Football NSW is a finalist are as follows:
NSW Organisation of the Year ? Football NSW
NSW Sports Media Award ? Football Stars of Tomorrow (Tony Peters)
NSW Team of the Year ? U13 NSW Boys State Team
NSW Young Official of the Year ? Scott Edeling
Football NSW also congratulates CPSARA Football on being selected as finalists in:
NSW Team Athlete with a Disability – Jack Williams
NSW Team with a Disability ? NSW Paralympic 7-A Side & NSW Paralympic 7-A Side YouthTeam
The organisation itself gained worthy selection for NSW Organisation of the Year. The other finalists for NSW Organisation of the Year are Gymnastics NSW, Riding for the Disabled Association, Sailability NSW and Surf Life Saving NSW.
In the NSW Team of the Year Category the NSW U13 State Team will be flying the flag for Football NSW. In 2009 the FFA held for the first time the National Junior Championships for the U13s in Canberra where the side won all seven matches scored an amazing 25 goals and conceded not one goal in the entire tournament. From that squad, eight players were identified to attend an FFA National Selection camp and then six went on to play for the Australian U13 side that competed in the AFC Tournament in Malaysia.
In the NSW Young Official of the Year award, 19-year-old referee Scott Edeling has placed himself amongst four other finalists for the coveted award. Three years ago, Edeling was officiating grassroots level competitions but in such a short space of time was identified and inducted into the Football NSW Elite Development Panel where he received intensive coaching and development. He developed so quickly that within one full season he was selected by the FFA as a Hyundai A-League official.
Turning the attention to the media, Football NSW?s highly successful television series ?Football Stars of Tomorrow? which is telecast on both FoxSports and Channel 9 has also gained a worthy mention, in the running for its? fourth successive year in the NSW Sports Media category. The show picked up the award in 2008 and hopes are pinned for making it two in a row come February next year.
In the Distinguished Long Service Award, Hurstville City Minotaurs Peter ?The General? Sarikakis will be acknowledged for his involvement with the sport for over 50 years by receiving the Distinguished Long Service Award. Sarikakis has been involved at every capacity in football as a player and at administrative level where he has held a number of positions as well as being a coach.
Being selected as finalists in four categories by the NSW Sports Federation is an acknowledgement of the hard work of the Football NSW family.
To view the rest of the finalists click here
-By Mark Stavroulakis
