MEDIA RELEASE
30 November 1998
JUDGES PANEL LOCKED ON COACHING AWARD
For the first time since the inception of the Australian Coach Awards there is a tied result.
The panel of 10 judges was evenly divided on the choice for Domestic League Coach of The Year. The title was shared by Australian Rugby League coach, Wayne Bennett, and Australian Football League coach, Malcom Blight.
The 9th Australian Coach Awards were presented last Friday night, 27th November, at the Melbourne Convention Centre, Victoria, as part of Sports Coach 98, the Australia's premier convention for coaches. Over 500 coaches attended the Awards presentation dinner. The Awards is organised by the Australian Coaching Council and is proudly supported by the Australian Sports Commission and Heath Fielding Australia.
Other winners were:
· Individual Coach of the Year (Male) Gennadi Touretski Swimming
· Individual Coach of the Year (Female) Donna Ray-Szalinski (Cycling)
· Team Coach of the Year (Male) Richard Charlesworth (Women’s Hockey
· Team Coach of the Year (Female) Jill McIntosh (Netball)
Peter Corcoran OAM received the Eunice Gill Coach Education Merit Awards.
Following is a brief summary of the Coach Awards winner’s careers:
Domestic League Coach of The Year
Wayne Bennett (Rugby League)
Wayne is a Level 3 coach and coach of the Brisbane Broncos Rugby League team. And what a year he had in 1998! He coached the Broncos to the NRL premiership (they were also the minor premiers), the Maroons to a State of Origin series win over NSW, and the Australian side to victory against the Kiwis - the first rugby league coach to achieve the trifecta in the one season.
Malcolm Blight (Australian Football)
Malcolm has been coaching for nine years and in 1998 coached Adelaide to an AFL Grand Final win over North Melbourne 15.15.105 to 8.22.70 ... making it back-to-back victory laps for the Crows.
Individual Coach of the Year (Male)
Gennadi Touretski (swimming)
Gennadi is a Level 3 and high performance coach. Based at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, he is the coach of high profile swimmers Michael Klim, Matthew Dunn and Sarah Ryan. Michael Klim won seven medals (including four gold) at the world championships in Perth in January and during the nomination period both he and Dunn set world records.
Individual Coach of the Year (Female)
Donna Rae Szalinski (cycling)
Donna is a Level 3 coach and coach of high profile Australian road cyclists Anna Wilson and Liz Tadich. Anna has had an outstanding year winning the 122km 6th stage of the Tour de France, the 28km Road Individual Time Trial at the Commonwealth Games, and the 33km Time Trial at the recent national championships in Melbourne in October.
Team Coach of the Year (Male)
Richard Charlesworth (women’s hockey)
Ric is a Level 3 coach and coached the Australian women’s hockey team to victory at the World Cup in Utrecht, the Netherlands in June. The Hockeyroos, who were also the defending champions, defeated the host nation 3-2. In September, the side thrashed England 8-1 to win the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.
Team Coach of the Year (Female)
Jill McIntosh (netball)
Jill is a Level 3 coach and coached the Australian side to win the inaugural gold medal for netball at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. The win in KL was the icing on the cake for the team who also won three Test series’ during the year with a record of 17 Test match wins and only one loss.
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Contacts: Alan Reid ASC 018 486 293 or
Janice Yeung ACC 018 628 298
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