Grassroots heroes
Inside Sport magazine's Sportscover Clubbies Awards has wrapped up for another year, with a celebration luncheon at Tattersalls in Sydney attended by winners, awards partners and sports industry leaders.
Once again the awards showcased the best of Australian grassroots sport with rugby league, football, basketball, calisthenics, boxing, bowls and softball represented among the winners.
Sportscover CEO Simon Allatson told the assembled distinguished guests: “Our ambition for the awards is that they become, if they are not already, the pre-eminent community sports awards in Australia.
Given the volume of nominations received, over the thousand, and the number of community votes – over 12,000 – this ambition is being realised.”
A big thanks to our awards partners Sportscover, Canterbury and the Confederation of Australian Sport (CAS), plus the many thousands of dedicated volunteers who enrich the lives of Aussies through grassroots sport.
We’ll be back later in the year calling for 2020 award nominations, but in the meantime, here are your 2019 Sportscover Clubbies Awards champions!
BEST CLUB Blackall Magpies Senior Rugby League Club
For the second-straight year rugby league and Queensland took out the top gong. The Blackall Magpies is a story of triumph over adversity and the transformative power of sport in local communities.
Situated in the drought-ravaged interior of Queensland, 960km west of Brisbane, the mighty Magpies have defied the odds, surviving without a clubhouse, pokies revenue or major sponsors to bring hope and joy to the struggling community.
President Phil “Flop” Rooney, pictured above left with Magpies coach
