Karratha, Newman and Hedland shine in the first ever Pilbara Sports Awards

The top athletes and sporting officials across the Pilbara had their achievements recognised at the inaugural Pilbara Sports Awards held in Karratha. The event was hosted by Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and established through a collaboration between the four Pilbara based local governments. The evening was held over satellite and live streamed through Facebook bringing together the sporting communities across Port Hedland, Karratha, Ashburton and the East Pilbara. Guest speaker and Karratha legend Luke Whatley, shared his story of how sport has influenced his life and why he is committed to raising money for the Smith Family through swimming. Whatley was recognised and awarded with an appreciation of contribution to community certificate. Karratha took out three of the awards with Jessica Creighton named sportsperson of the year, Colin Skeen junior sportsperson of the year and Toby Fountain was awarded official of the year. Creighton has been a powerhouse in multiple sports this year including captaining Karratha Kats to a second premiership, being named West Pilbara Cricket Association Champion Player with the best bowling average, most wickets and most runs for the season. She was also selected in the WA Country XI for the third year running. Sporting group of the year went to the Newman Cricket Association and volunteer of the year went to Newman local Michael Manson. The Newman Cricket Association were crowned D section champions at this years Mens Country Week tournament defeating Port Hedland in the semi final and West Pilbara in the final. Port Hedland’s Relma Bule-Turner was named coach of the year. DLGSC representative Jodie Swaffer said she looked forward to the Pilbara Regional Sports Awards becoming a prestigious evening to celebrate those from across the region who are standout in their sporting field. “Through the Every Club partnership, we continue to build on club development across the Pilbara and are proud of the synergies created and opportunities provided to clubs and associations,” she said. “We hope that in future years, this event will travel across the region, being hosted by each of the local governments.” The evening was supported by Volunteering WA in recognition of International Volunteer Day on December 5 and Pilbara MLA Kevin Michel.