Soccer, Basketball, Rugby League and World Games

Sydney and Newcastle set for soccer rematch / Bankstown too strong for Newcastle in basketball / Sydney Comets fly past Maitland Mustangs / Junior Rugby League competitions extended / Sport and Recreation events / Register for Sydney’s World Games by July 31

Sydney and Newcastle set for soccer rematch

Sydney FC has locked in the last match of its packed pre-season program, with the Sky Blues to warm up for the start of the new Hyundai A-League competition with a trial clash against the Newcastle Jets at the Sydney Football Stadium.
The match replaces Sydney’s scheduled friendly against Shanghai Shenhua, which was cancelled last week following the late withdrawal of the Chinese Super League side.

Photo: Sydney and the Jets face off in Port Macquarie on Sunday July 12

Newcastle is expected to provide another good test for the Sky Blues, two weeks out from the new season, with Sydney claiming a 2-nil win over a competitive Jets outfit on Sunday, July 12 in a friendly clash in Port Macquarie.

The pre-season rematch will kick-off at the Sydney Football Stadium at 2pm on Sunday, July 26. Story and photo from www.sydneyfc.com

Bankstown too strong for Newcastle in basketball

Newcastle Hunters’ trip to Bankstown last Saturday (July 11) proved to be as tough as Hunter Waratah Basketball League fans expected. The 6th placed Hunter women took on the table topping Bankstown Bruins and found that the Bruins were just too strong all around the court. The Bruins led 46 – 36 at the main break and extended their lead in the second half to take the match 73 – 59.

Top scorers for the Hunters were Katie-Rae Ebzery (25) and Kristen Forbes (10) while Brianna Hennessy (29) and Sarah Hately (16) dominated the scoring for the Bruins. The Hunter women being 6th are still holding onto the last play-off position.

Unfortunately for the Hunter men the Bruins won every quarter to take their match 97 – 70 after leading 51 -40 at half time. For Newcastle Mathew McGovern top scored with 26 while John Martin (14), Kieron Moss (13) and Mathew Cook (11) were the team’s other main scorers.

Next weekend the Hunter women have a double header taking on the Hornsby Spiders at home at 5pm on Saturday July 18 and then travelling to Alexandria to take on the Sydney Comets on Sunday July 19. The men only have the one match against the Spiders, tipping off at 7pm on Saturday July 18 at Newcastle following the women’s game.

For more on WABL basketball go to: http://www.waratah.basketball.net.au/fs_home.asp

For other basketball stories on representative and wheelchair basketball as well as other districts go to: http://sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=288

Sydney Comets fly past Maitland Mustangs

The 3rd placed Sydney Comets defeated the Maitland Mustangs men’s WABL team last weekend by 112 – 91. The Mustangs loss saw them drop from 6th to 7th on the ladder and in danger of missing the play offs. The Mustangs next home match is on 25th July at 6pm against the lowly placed Hills Hornets.

For more on WABL basketball go to: http://www.waratah.basketball.net.au/fs_home.asp

Northern NSW Football teams doing well in Nationals

Northern NSW teams have been doing well in the Australian Youth Championships – to get updates and to find out the latest news for Northern NSW Football including inter-district competitions go to: http://www.northernnswfootball.com.au/default.aspx

Newcastle Football is one of six associations under the umbrella of Northern NSW Football. The other Associations are Football Far North Coast; Football Mid North Coast; Hunter Valley Football; Macquarie Football; North Coast Football; Northern Inland Football.

Newcastle and Hunter Schoolboys Junior Rugby League Competitions extended

The Newcastle Schoolboys Junior Rugby and the Hunter Valley Competitions have been extended 1 week till the 1st August. Grand Finals will now be held 29th August.

To find out the latest news for Schoolboys Rugby League in Newcastle go to:
http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=7-2358-0-0-0

What's on around NSW with Sport and Recreation

NSW Sport and Recreation runs programs that will help you get active, improve your fitness or try a new sport. For more details of what’s on in the region go to: http://www.dsr.nsw.gov.au/active/whatson.asp

Register for Sydney’s World Masters Games by July 31

There is still time for Newcastle sportsmen and women to register for Sydney’s World Masters Games in Sydney. Over 6700 people have registered for the World Masters games in Sydney on October 10 -18, 2009. Over 28 sports will cater for participants of varying standards and ages.

For example, tennis has singles, doubles and mixed doubles in ten year age brackets from 30+ to 80+ with A grade for competition players and B grade for social players and beginners. Basketball will cater for social to elite teams from 30+ to 70+ in 5 year ranges.

Other sports include archery, basketball, football (soccer), netball, swimming and touch football

Registrations close on July 31. For more details go to the World Games web site: http://www.2009worldmasters.com/default.aspx