Queenscliff has announced Hayden Illingworth will be senior coach next season - an appointment three years in the making. 

A stalwart of the Geelong-based St Peter’s Cricket Club, Illingworth said after originally declining an offer, he decided now was the right time to make the shift. 

The highly-regarded opening batter replaces friend and former team mate Frank Mileto, who, with the imminent birth of his first child, has stepped aside from the coaching role.

“I’ve been playing with St Peter since I was around 14 years old and I’m 31 now, so more than half my life,” he said. “Coming to Queenscliff got mentioned a few years back and I put a line through it pretty quickly because I was content where I was at St Peters, then after winning a premiership… the idea of making the shift became a bit more attractive and it was seemed like too good an opportunity.

“The decision goes back to Frank, that’s where the tie lies. He played at St Peters a few years back and we’ve stayed in contact ever since. He’ll probably tell you that he’s only been trying to get me for a couple of years, I’d say it goes back a bit further than that.”

Queenscliff finished on top of the ladder at the end of last season, but were knocked out in the first final.
Despite never having held a coaching position, Illingworth said he was looking forward to working with the young squad and hopefully taking the side one step further.  

“I’m excited and a little bit nervous… I think the coaching part will come pretty naturally and whilst I haven’t done it in the sporting sense, I feel pretty comfortable in front of a group of people and definitely in a sporting environment I feel comfortable working with people in any capacity really so I’m looking forward to working with a young group that wants to learn.

“I keep a pretty good overview of all cricket in Geelong and that include the Bellarine and I’ve followed Queenscliff for a number of years now and generally see the same names popping up year after year, which tells me the retention of players here at Queenscliff is pretty good and that tells me a lot about the club,” Illingworth said. 
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“I know that it’s a young group and I know that it’s guys that have generally played a lot of cricket here … I want to try to get the best out of those guys.” 
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A suggestion from mum, Emily, that George Limb answer an advert for “big” players has paid dividends in the sport of gridiron, and could lead to further opportunities in the football code.

After just his first season with the Geelong Buccaneers, the Point Lonsdale 16-year old has been selected in the Victorian U/20 gridiron team, to compete in next month’s national championships, to be played in Wollongong.

“Mum just saw a post on Instagram saying we want some of the biggest guys in Geelong and thought I’d suit the role,” George said.

Nudging 6.2 ft and having grown up in an Australian Rules football-loving family – Dad Michael Limb is a three-time Queenscliff premiership player and his uncle, Tom, the club’s former premiership captain and coach - George more than suited the role, despite a limited knowledge of the rules.

“I’d watched gridiron and the Super Bowl, but I didn’t know anything about the rules really,” he said.

“I enjoyed the first try out, but it was a bit weird I guess. I didn’t really know what was going on, they just told me to hit a few bags and I did and went from there.”

Playing in a defensive role – that guy tasked with taking out the quarterback - George helped the Buccaneers reach recent Grand Finals in both U/16 and U/19 competitions, narrowly losing both to Melbourne teams. In doing so, he was named Victoria’s U/16 Rookie of the Year and picked up the Buccaneers’ Most Valuable Player and Player’s Player awards.

For now, George will continue with both grid iron and AFL, but has not ruled out further pursuing a career in America’s national game.  

“They love the Aussies in America, so there’s always scouts looking at the local competition and there are definitely pathways.

“I think if the opportunities come up where I am being looked at, I’d definitely jump at the chance. I have thought about colleges over there and I know some people with connections, so depending on where I’m at when juniors finish, it could definitely be a possibility and an opportunity.”

With little brother Angus also playing with the Buccaneers,  the Limb family is quickly adopting a passion for the sport.
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“They actually love it and have done a lot of research in their own time to learn about the sport, which is pretty nice,” George added.

CRICKET - Queenscliff’s D-Grade women’s team has created history by becoming the first all-female side in the club’s 150 year history to secure a BWCC premiership.
 
The side, coached by Tim Frankenberg, defeated Grovedale by 85 runs in the Grand Final, played at  Armstrong Creek on Sunday 26 February. 

Batting first, the Couta’s set a run chase of 140 for the loss of just four wickets. In reply, Grovedale managed just 8/55 in the 20/20 format match. 

Captain Jess Fletcher was a standout, scoring 28 runs, including four boundaries, and taking 3/11 with the ball. Susan Monahan top scored with 29 not out from just 33 balls, including five fours, while Alex Birrell chimed in with 3/12.

“After being undefeated all season and having a great build up to the preliminary finals, we were feeling confident, but nothing is ever certain so we never took a win as a given,” Fletcher said.

“Everything went right on the day, we won the toss and elected to bat. The openers did a great job forging the way for the late batters to swing freely.

“Our opening bowler was a hat trick in the first over, so it was really the best start anyone could hope for. Our fielding was also top notch.”

In only its second season in the league, the club fielded two teams, the second in E-Grade - a measure of the sport’s growing popularity. 
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“The whole club is a very close community and we are a very close knit squad. May of the team were instrumental in the making of a women’s team, so it’s a very invested group,” said Fletcher. ‘We were also lucky enough to pick up a couple of very handy and experienced recruits this season.”

The future looks bright at the Point Lonsdale Bowls Club with the formation of its first junior bowls squad. 

The Stingrays is for children aged 10 to 13 keen to learn the skills involved in the sport. 

“Lawn bowls clubs throughout Australia are making huge in-roads with the implementation of various junior bowls programs for those as young as 10 years of age,” said spokesperson Steve Tomming. 

“This change of mindset has been the result of the recent focus to  include younger bowlers into state and national bowls squads and teams.”

Mr Tomming said the new squad would receive coaching suited to their skill level and needs, with a view to growing the sport locally.

“The hope is that these keen young bowlers will eventually be able to compete at local level, at district events and at state competitions.
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“Squad members have already shown early, yet exciting signs of bowls skills and these will only be enhanced with further coaching and game playing,” he said.

SURFING - From opposite side of the globe, sister and brother Laurie and Jay Phipps are conquering waves.

On the back of scoring a Gold medal at the French Parasurf Championships in October, Laurie last month placed third at the World Para Surfing Championships.

Laurie, whose foot was amputated after a devastating scooter accident two years ago, was competing for France in the women’s stand two division. 

Speaking after the event, she thanked supporters from both France and Australia who had aided her performance had encouraged to go further. 

“This bronze medal is an encouragement for my first world championships. I will do everything to come back next year and I will try to improve a bit,” she said.

Younger brother Jay, meanwhile, last month helped Victoria finish third in the Woolworths Australian Junior Surfing Titles, staged at North Stradbroke.

He finished equal fifth in the Under 16 Men division.
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Laurie and Jay’s father, Mark Phipps, is a highly-regarded surf board maker. Through his work, the family shares their time between Point Lonsdale and France.

Queenscliff’s A Grade netballers and senior footballers have once again sported blue armbands in support of mental health.
The second annual Hand Up Cup was played against Drysdale on Saturday 11 June, with the aim of encouraging open conversations and removing the stigma of depression, particularly among young people. 
In recent years, both clubs have lost much-loved and valued members following battles with mental health.
The Hand Up Cup encourages those doing it tough to put their ‘hand up’ and others to give their mates a ‘hand up’ if they need support.

Olympic distance walker Rebecca Henderson capped off an eventful 2021 by winning the Open Women’s section of the 1.4 km Point Lonsdale Rip View Swim Classic on December 30. 
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It was the second consecutive win for Henderson, 20, who also won the title in 2019. The 2020 event was cancelled due to COVID-19.

“It was really nice out there, the waves died down and it was a beautiful day for it,” said the Berwick-based Henderson, who earlier in the day finished second in the 3.6km event. 

Earlier in the year, Henderson wore the green and gold while competing in the 20km road walk in Tokyo. 

“I like to do a bit of everything and obviously race walking I’m training for a lot at the moment, but I was doing triathlon a few years ago and open water swimming and I’ll come back to racing that competitively  at some point. But at the moment, whenever I can, I just try to get in the water because I love it, it’s so much fun.”

After threatening over recent years, Matt Gilling finally secured a win in the Men’s Open event, defeating multi-race winner Sam Sheppard, who finished second. 

“It’s always good to get one back on Sam because he’s definitely got me plenty more than I’ve got him,” he said. 

Originally from Ocean Grove, Billings now lives and trains on the Gold Coast.

“I’ve transitioned from a pool swimmer into a surf ironman, which is what I do now… obviously being from down here I still come home for Christmas and I try to do as many swims as I can.

The event attracted around 900 swimmers, despite COVID and the event being held mid week. 

“We did in fact have the highest number of pre-registrations we’ve every had but I think some of those factors were at play and kept some away on the day,” said Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club president Charlie Pitney.

​"It’s actually been really challenging to host the event this time and we were really lucky to get some new sponsors come on board,” he said.

​NETBALL – Former Queenscliff A-grade netballer Katrina Daws is returning to the club in 2022 at senior coach.

Daws, who has also played with GFL clubs Belmont and St Marys, is a familiar face having played for the Coutas in 2017.

In recent years she has held several youth coaching roles including with regional representative team the Geelong Flyers and as Head coach at Geelong College.

“Katrina has been mentored by some of the state’s best coaches, so she brings with her a wealth of knowledge, experience and the drive to take on her first senior coaching role at Queenscliff,” the club said.

“Her values and professionalism align with our club culture; she is engaging, positive and inspiring. Katrina is passionate about player welfare and her coaching philosophy is something we are very excited about.”
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Daws replaces Bridgitte Burns, who held the senior coaching role for two seasons.

FOOTBALL - Queenscliff’s new senior coach says he will not be setting unrealistic goals for the club ahead of next season.

Instead, after two challenging years, with limited matches and social events, Rory Nicol wants his players to enjoy being back on the field and kicking a footy again.

“I feel not a heap needs to change to be honest. I just need to grab the baton that [former coach] Steve Clark was carrying and run with it,” he said.

“Obviously I’ll implement some different things because I have a different style, but I’ll just be looking to compliment Steve’s hard work and look to develop the exciting list, which I’m looking forward to.

Clark stood down at the end of last season after four years in the role.

“I’m not going to have big expectations. We’ll just try to be the best we can be and see how far that takes us.”

As coach for four years up until 2020, Nicol is credited with turning around the fortunes of rival BFL club Newcomb and ridding it of its ‘easy beats’ tag. He has also coached at VFL and GFL levels.

Nicol has signed on for two seasons, becoming the 135 year old club’s 35th senior coach.

He said was not necessarily looking to take on a new coaching role, but Queenscliff’s culture and its talented list of youth proved too tempting.

“I was really impressed with how the club’s travelling off field, they’re very organised and have a strong volunteer base. I just found it was a very welcoming, warm community football club.

“The flip side to that is what Steve’s been able to do over the last couple of years to put some game time into the younger guys, the 17, 18 and 19 year olds. They’re at a point we’re they’re probably ready to develop further and play some more regular senior football. There’s a lot of improvement in the list,” he said.

“If you use Ocean Grove as an example, they’ve gone through a youth policy and everybody probably tipped them to finish in the bottom two or three and they just came out and surprised everyone and won a final.

“We’re going to be young, so who knows what we can achieve.”

Queenscliff Football Netball Club president Rowan Martin said Nicol was appointed after an extensive recruitment process and from a field of impressive applicants.
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“Of the short-listed candidates whittled down from an early list of eight potentials for the role, the final candidates presented and interviewed extremely well but Rory was deemed to be the best fit for our club,” he said.

When Victoria went into its first full lockdown early last year, Olympic rower Ria Thompson unpacked a car full of gym equipment and, with a new puppy at her side, got stuck into training on the back deck of her parent’s Point Lonsdale home. 

It was a long and challenging road to Tokyo for the 23 year old, with multiple lockdowns, quarantines and of course the cancellation of last year’s Olympics, but one well worth the pain with Ria securing what was deemed an unlikely bronze medal in the women’s quadruple sculls. 

With 500 metres remaining in the final race, Ria and team mates Rowena Meredith, Harriet Hudson and Caitlin Cronin, stormed home to snatch third place from Germany - behind China and Poland - in what commentators described as a “fairytale finish”. 

In a perfect world Dad Craig and Mum Kerri would have been in Japan cheering Ria on. Instead they watched from their Point Lonsdale lounge room. 

“We’ve been at 99.9 per cent of all of her major races, even the overseas ones,” Craig said. 

“As a parent, it’s really disappointing and tough not to be there, but that’s just part of the world we live in at the moment, and a lot of people have had it a lot worse than us being locked down in Lonnie.” 

Ria, a 2019 World U/23 single sculls champion, had been in training at the National Rowing Centre in Penrith when the COVID-19 national emergency was declared. 

“They were in lockdown like everyone else and not allowed to row for that period so she came home with a car full of gym equipment and trained on the back deck,” said Craig. 

Her “most important” training partner, a Border Collie puppy named Tokum, was by her side the entire time.  

Raised in Woodend and schooled in Melbourne, Ria was to have commenced a Doctorate of Medicine at Queensland University, but when last year’s Olympics were postponed, put her studies on hold. 
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Tokyo was her Olympic debt. She flew back into Australia and straight into a further 14 days of quarantine. 
“The hurdles that they’ve had to overcome just to get there have been immense, but the whole way through the entire team has been incredibly resilient and just made it happen,” Craig said.

Point Lonsdale surfers Lucy Naylor and Jay Phipps have been crowned state champions in their respective age groups, after the Victorian Junior Surfing titles were declared last month. 

The talented teens were leading their tables in the U/18 girls and U/14 boys sections after two  of three finals heats. 

The third and final round was to have been held at Bells Beach this month, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Naylor took out heat one and posted a third in the second heat for an end of season tally of 1730 points. 
Point Lonsdale's Minnie Vorath finished in third place in the age group.

Phipps ended the season with a commanding 2000 points, having won both heat finals. 

"It feels so great to finish up on top especially for my last year in the juniors," said Naylor. "Hopefully comps will resume soon. We find out on the 14th of September whether the Australian Titles will go ahead." 
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The Woolworths Victorian Junior Surfing Titles is the exclusive qualification pathway for the State's elite junior competitors for selection into the Victorian Junior Surfing Team, set to compete at the Australian Junior Surfing Titles later in the year.

A four-year journey to raise awareness of Australia’s first touring international sporting team has had a fitting end in Queenscliff. 

Having travelled through 11 different municipalities and throughout England, the Mullagh Wills Foundation chose Queenscliff as the last destination of a message book that celebrates the original journey of Australia’s first Aboriginal Cricket team, which left from the town in 1868. 

To mark the book’s arrival, Foundation members and dignitaries attended a traditional smoking ceremony and Queenscliff and Anglesea B-Grade cricket teams competed for a newly-struck Mullagh Wills shield on Saturday February 29. 

“We saw the message book as an opportunity to talk about reconciliation through sport,” said Foundation Chair Jane Nathan. 

“That book has now travelled the same journey as the original team and it is absolutely pivotal that it came to Queenscliff because this is where they left on that journey.”

“It was an extraordinary story and we have got the opportunity here today to say it’s done its journey,” Ms Nathan said.

With the Victorian Aboriginal Protectorate Board threatening to stop them leaving the country, the team of 13 Aboriginal cricketers, mostly from the Western District, boarded a boat from Queenscliff for a “fishing trip” but never returned. 

They spent 125 days touring England and played cricket on 99 of them. 

Ian Friend, an ancestor of Captain Charles Lawrence, who organised the fishing boat, showcased original photographs and momentos of the tour, including a cricket bat. 

“It’s a great story and the thing is the tour was widely supported by everyone, it was only the Protectorate Board that said no,” he said. 

“Queenscliff is a special part of the story because this is where the team left on a fishing trip to become Australia’s first international sporting team. When you think of it that way, it is really significant.”

Foundation co-founder and secretary Ian Coutts spoke to school children at the Borough’s three primary schools ahead of the official event. 

“It’s a story that needs to be told and more people should know about it,” he said. 

Queenscliffe Mayor, Ross Ebbels said he hoped the event would now be recognised annually, both with a cricket game, and through a broader celebration.  
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“We want to know more about our indigenous history and one way to do it is to start with this first Australian cricket team tour to England,” he said. 
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The game of croquet is very much back in vogue in Queenscliff, with the town’s century old croquet club now boasting more than 50 members and still on the look out for more.

A determined effort to introduce newcomers, through come and try days, coaching and improved visibility, has swelled numbers to their strongest in recent years.

And a new partnership between Croquet Victoria and the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA), which re-affirms the health benefits of the sport, is set to grow participation even further.  

 “This is a group of local Queenscliff croquet Club players who exemplify the benefits of regular exercise and activity, fellowship and fresh air,” said club secretary Denise Spark.

“Many of the members are over 90 years of age and are formidable opponents.”

“Croquet is played all year round on a social basis as well as competitive, and is stimulating both physically and mentally,” Mrs Spark said.

Encouraging members to wear their red shirts when they take to the courts, on the prominent King and Hesse Street intersection, has been credited with helping to lift the club’s profile, as has its regular come and try days.

“Members participate in a region-wide pennant competition or play socially, and new members are always welcome,” said Mrs Spark.

The APA recently released two videos – one for participants and one for health professionals – highlighting the croquet’s benefits, particularly for the elderly, because of range of gentle physical movement involved.

They’ve only just started their second season, but Seb Monahan, Charlie Saunders and  twin brothers Mathew and Luke Lawrence are already mixing it with some of the Geelong region’s best lawn bowlers.

The 16 years olds are all representing Queenscliff in the division one competition, jumping up from division five last year.  

Having played cricket throughout their junior sporting years, all four boys last season decided they wanted to try something a little different.

“There’s a bit of family history here and I was keen to change it up and find new that I'd enjoy doing and a couple of cousins and my mate followed along,” said Seb.  

 “I love it, I can’t see myself changing to another sport anytime soon.”

 “It’s kind of a surprise to be in Division 1, but we all improved a lot quicker than we thought we would,” Seb added.

The four are among a growing number of young people taking up lawn bowls, once regarded a sport for retirees.

“We love playing with the older team members, they’re a lot of fun and they all get around us and encourage us,” Seb said.