Winners of the Womensport West's Country Week Awards congratulated

6/7/99
Sport and Recreation Minister Norman Moore today congratulated the winners of Womensport West's Country Week Awards and said the contribution of women to sport, particularly in regional areas, was invaluable.
"I would like to congratulate all the winners of the Womensport West Country Week Awards," Mr Moore said.
"These young women are outstanding role models who make a top class contribution to their schools and communities.
"Their achievements are of the highest order."
The Active Achievers Country Week Award is presented by Womensport West and sponsored by Healthway and the Smarter than Smoking message.
The award is designed to acknowledge young women from regional areas in Western Australia who are outstanding role models and leaders in their school and local community.
Each school involved in Country Week is invited to nominate one or two female students for the award.
This year 40 young women were nominated from 23 schools, with some schools sending in up to four nominations as they were unable to choose between them.
Due to the overwhelming number of nominations received and the time restraints involved, only 20 of the girls could be selected by the judges for interviews.
"This was an extremely difficult process due to the extremely high calibre of this years nominations and those girls who missed out on interviews are also to be congratulated on the great work they are doing in their schools and local communities," Mr Moore said.
"The nominees came from as far north as Port Hedland to Esperance in the south."
This year there were three new awards. These were awards sponsored by companies in the regions of: the South-West, the North-West and the Great South.
The winner of the Margaret River Cheese Company South West Regional Award is Jo-anne D'cress from Bunbury Senior High School (see profile in overall winners section).
The winner of the Bodycare Great Southern Active Achievers Country Week Award is Cristen Cunningham from Narrogin Agricultural College.
Cristen is a year 12 student who is in the Country Week Netball team. Ms Cunningham is the first female school captain in the history of the college's 85 years. Cristen is the editor of the college year book and has her level 0 coaching certificate. She is actively involved in the Youth Leadership in Sport Program and has completed her Senior First Aid certificate. Cristen umpires Netball for her local association and enjoys playing basketball as well as swimming and horse riding.
There was a tie for the Adventure Sports North West Active Achievers Country Week Award and the two winners were Louise Gore from Newman Senior High School and Jodi Monaghan from Tom Price Senior High School (see profiles in overall winners section).
As well as the Active Achievers Country Week Award, this year an Encouragement Award was also presented.
This award is designed to recognise a younger student, either year 10 or 11, who shows outstanding potential to succeed as a leader and role model
Two nominees tied for the award.
Both of the encouragement award winners will receive a Womensport West T-shirt, Smarter than Smoking Hat and a framed certificate.
The first winner is Jahna Lynas, a year 10 student from Hedland Senior High School. Jahna played basketball at Country Week.
She is a member of the School Sports Council, is a year 10 student councillor and is secretary of the Aboriginal Support and Student Awareness program. Jahna umpires basketball and is a participant in this year's Rock Eisteddfod.
She was selected to attend an Engineering Workshop in Sydney in 1997 and is part of a specialist program for students with high career and tertiary aspirations. She also does volunteer work for a local child care centre.
Jahna strives to encourage all people, regardless of gender or cultural background, to participate in sporting activities. She plays on both a mixed and female touch rugby team, regularly participates in boxercise and hopes to become an electrical engineer.
The second winner is Hollie Tinetti, a year 11 student from Northam Senior High School. Hollie is co-coach of her hockey team at Country Week. She is also involved in swimming, running and horse riding and is a keen umpire of both indoor and outdoor hockey.
Hollie is a member of the Youth Council and is active in her school drama program. Hollie was selected to represent Avon in the 1998 and 1999 State Hockey Championships and was also selected for the U/16 state squad but was unfortunately diagnosed with ITP, a serious blood disorder and was forced to forfeit her position.
Despite this, Hollie has continued to help to play an active role in her local association. This year, Hollie participated in the Midland Elite Enrichment Scheme and the Community Builders Leadership Program. This year she won a Healthway scholarship and is currently being assessed for her Level 1 Umpiring badge.
In the major category, the Active Achievers Country Week Award, the judges faced a unique problem - they were unable to separate three nominees.
Each receives a Womensport West T-shirt, Smarter than Smoking Bag, a $50 Book Voucher as well as a framed certificate. Their schools will also receive a framed certificate and photo for posterity.
The first winner is Jo-anne D'cress from Bunbury Senior High School.
Jo-anne is a year 12 student who is the captain of the basketball country week team. She has recently started a club called 'Bully Busters' with the aim of preventing bullying occurring in the school community and as a result is now referred students by her teachers to help them with goal setting and any other problems they may be facing. Jo-anne volunteers as a teacher's assistant at Newton Moore Senior High School in the Education Support Centre as well as volunteering as a tutor. Jo-anne is also the secretary of the Aboriginal Support and Student Awareness Program and volunteers twice a week in the Red Cross Australia shop as well as being the leader of the Junior Red Cross. Jo-anne is currently choreographing a Year 8 production that will be performed at the annual Gala. As well as playing at regional level in the South West Slammers, Jo-anne coaches and umpires Netball and Basketball.
The second winner is Louise Gore from Newman Senior High School.
Louise is a year 12 student who is Country Week Volleyball Captain and Co-ordinator for her school. Louise is a member of the Student Council and a Sportsfun Leader as well as being a Kids Help Line leader and a member of the Newman Youth Advisory Council. She was selected to play volleyball in the National Junior Championships in Canberra this year, but had to pass up the opportunity due to study commitments. Louise plays A-grade netball as well as touch rugby and basketball in social competitions. Louise umpires mixed netball, C-grade netball, volleyball and softball and has her level 1 certificate for volleyball and her level 0 general principles certificate as well as her bronze medallion and first aid certificate. Louise is actively involved in the Newman moto-cross club as a volunteer and recently helped organise a Wildcats demonstration match for the cyclone Vance appeal.
The final winner is Jodi Monaghan from Tom Price Senior High School.
Jodi is in Year 12 and is playing netball at Country Week. Jodi is President of the School Council and also President of the Tom Price Junior Town Council. She is currently organising a football, netball and soccer round robin competition in her community, as well as co-ordinating a mixed netball team. She is the editor of the 'Youth Spirit,' an addition to the local newspaper, and also writes her own column in the local newspaper that addresses issues concerning young people such as employment, youth suicide and substance abuse. She is also a member of the Local Drug Action Group and is currently organising a skate-boarding and roller blading competition at the local skate park. In addition, Jodi is organising the re-opening on the Tom Price 'drive-ins' to provide a safe place for young people to socialise on weekends. Last year Jodi was nominated for the Youth Minister's Positive Image Award and while she plans to move to Perth next year to attend university, she says that she does not want to leave Tom Price without making a difference.
Media contact: Hartley Joynt, Minister's office, 9321 1444
Mary-Anne Paton, Executive Director Womensport West 9387 9757.