Celebrating our most outstanding athletes
All the winners from the Maccabi Australia 2023 national and state sport awards.
ABC TV sport reporter Daniel Garb hosted the 2022 Maccabi national and state sport awards last Sunday night, which had an online audience of more than 130.
The number-one ranked Australian male tennis player born in 2008, Jake Dembo, won the Western Australia (WA) and national awards for Junior Sportsman of the Year.
Dembo, who came sixth out of 16 international juniors at the 2022 Wimbledon U14 boys’ tournament, said via video message, “I started playing tennis when I was three, and it [that passion] has been with me ever seen … I’m very honoured to accept this award.”
The Victorian winner in that category is 2022 AFL Draft number three pick Harry Sheezel, and the NSW winner is 19-year-old cyclist Brayden Bloch, who made his international debut in the Junior Tour of Ireland last year, and is based in Spain this year with team Equipo Oleka.
The NSW Junior Sportswoman of the Year winner is Tali Baltineshter, a 2022 Maccabiah Games girls’ javelin gold medallist, who came fourth in U17s at last year’s Australian championships, and is aiming to compete at the Junior Commonwealth Games this August.
Weightlifter Layla Bloom is the category’s Victorian and national winner, for achieving a number one Australian youth girls’ ranking, coming 14th on debut at the World Youth Championships, and ninth in the open women’s competition at her first Maccabiah Games.
Bloom said she “loves being able to represent my culture and sport at the same time”, and is now training hard to qualify for the U20 world weightlifting championships.
For Sportsman of the Year, footballer Jacob Muir won the WA award for making his A-League Men debut for the Perth Glory and earning a contract extension.
The Victorian winner is snooker and billiards player Marc Fridman, for achievements including being open men’s runner-up in the 2022 Reventon tournament, while the NSW and national winner is Olympian Steve Solomon, who, at 29, qualified for the 2022 Commonwealth Games men’s 400m final, coming seventh – just weeks after recovering from a hamstring injury.
“I certainly feel the love and support [of the Jewish community] every time I touch the start line, so it means a lot to win this award,” Solomon said.
Two Olympians were nominated for Sportswoman of the Year, with race walker Jemima Montag winning the Victorian category, and canoe slalom world champion Jessica Fox winning the NSW and national category.
Fox was crowned the 2022 women’s single kayak World Cup champion, while Montag won her second Commonwealth Games gold, came fourth at the worlds, and broke a decades-old Australian women’s 20km record.
Montag also was equal winner of Maccabi Australia’s President’s Award – partly for her ‘Play On’ project aiming to boost girls’ participation in sport – along with fellow Victorian, Australian rhythmic gymnast representative Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva.
“Having everyone’s support is a huge part of what drives me [when competing],” Montag said.
In a video message from the Sofia World Cup tournament, Kiroi-Bogatyreva said she feels “very proud and grateful”, and congratulated all other winners.
Karate athlete Kerry Saloner won the NSW and national Masters Sportswoman of the Year awards.
Her 2022 achievements included bronze at the Maccabiah Games, and gold at the Oceania Cup.
In men’s masters, swimming legend Peter Michaelson – who passed away in February at the age of 57 – was named the NSW winner.
Michaelson set a new 55-59 men’s 50 free state record and won one gold and three silvers at the 2022 NSW masters long course swimming championships. His wife, Leeanne, told Garb, “Peter was someone who went to great lengths to lift up others, regardless of age, event, competition, or category … he took a lot of pleasure in knowing they achieved their personal best.
“It’s a great honour to accept this award on Peter’s behalf.”
Cyclist Matthew Sherwin – whose 2022 achievements include winning two golds and three silvers at the Maccabiah Games – was named Victoria’s men’s masters category winner.
Norman Same won the Queensland and national men’s masters awards categories.
Same – who in recent years moved interstate from Melbourne, and was involved with Maccabi-AJAX Hockey Club for decades – scored a goal for Australia’s men’s over-65 team in their 4-1 grand final victory over Ireland at last year’s World Hockey Masters Championships.
Teenage sprinter and Maccabi Athletics Club rep Ori Drabkin won the All-Abilities Victoria category, while recently retired five-time Paralympian swimmer Matt Levy – who won gold in the men’s 50m freestyle S7 final at the 2022 Commonwealth Games – won the NSW and national All Abilities category.
Thanking Maccabi Australia, Levy said he hoped “to see a lot more people with disability come up for this award in the coming years”.
Drabkin – who also was named the recipient of the Maccabi Australia Rudy Roth Scholarship, and who nailed a PB and new Australian U20 T35 100m time of 13.83 seconds at the 2022 Oceania Athletics Championships – said, “Thank you – you just can’t underestimate how much this scholarship helps [young athletes].”
The winner of the inaugural Sandra and Barry Smorgon Future Leader Scholarship, presented by their son Darren, was Melburnian Hugo Burstin.
The Maccabi state and national Club of the Year, and Volunteer of the Year awards, will be covered in next week’s AJN.
comments