Year in Review: Celebrating Success at 116th Blues Awards
Published Thu 31 Oct 2024
As the academic year wraps up, over 170 guests enjoyed a wonderful evening at the 116th Annual Blues Awards on Tuesday, October 29, at the National Wine Centre, celebrating the remarkable achievements of our AU Sport clubs and athletes.
We proudly awarded three exceptional AU Sport clubs as 'Clubs of the Year,' while also awarding, Service to AU Sport, Volunteer of the Year, and Coach of the Year (Elite & Development).
The Patron’s Cup Award – AU Athletics Club
This award is presented in recognition of Professor McWha’s support of AU Sport during his ten-year tenure as Vice-Chancellor. It is given to a club for outstanding sporting achievements across the year and AU Athletics were awarded the prestigious award after an incredible last 12 months.
Across track, distance and cross country, AU Athletics Club had an incredible year. With 6 Gold & 5 silver medals from the State Track & Field Championships, Bronze Medal in the Men’s U20 State 10km Championships and medallist at the SA Cross Country Championships. 13 athletes competed at the Athletics Australia National Championships with silver medals in U18 Female 1500 metres and two athletes apart of the U20 4 x 100 metre Relay.
The Jessop Shield Club of the Year Award – AU Kendo Club
This award is for clubs with 50 or less members and is named after one of our first Life Members, Charles Jessop. This year, the award was given to the AU Kendo Club! The club were allocated a $1,000 financial incentive, which can be put towards a club development project approved by the AUSF Board.
The AU Kendo Club introduced governance improvements and functions for better finance and equipment management and implementing detailed spreadsheets for asset control. It maintained strong communication with AUSF and supported leadership development by funding interstate kendo seminars. To grow its membership, the club increased efforts during O'Week and Sportopia, offering free shinai to beginners, and flexible membership options. The Club also achieved notable results in the South Australia Kendo Championship.
The Bennett Shield Club of the Year – AU Volleyball Club
This award recognises clubs with more than 50 members and for the second year in a row, AU Volleyball Club were named the winners.
They were allocated a $1,000 financial incentive, which can be put towards a club development project approved by the AUSF Board.
AU Volleyball undertook significant governance improvements and member engagement initiatives contributing to club growth and strong weekly engagement. New leadership saw delegation system established with sub-committees focused on policy development and Social and State League. The club actively provided training opportunities for Level 1 & 2 coaching accreditations and lead to all seven teams reaching semi-finals of Volleyball SA League competitions, it demonstrates the club’s growth and development over the past year.
Other awards presented on Tuesday night included -
🏆 Service to Adelaide University Sport – Robert (Bob) Miles, Adelaide University Football Club
The Service to Adelaide University Sport Award tonight was presented to Robert (Bob) Miles, who unfortunately couldn't attend the event.
Since 1993, Bob has spread himself across all areas of the club as needed, motivated only by the desire to contribute to the community, and never for financial reward. In recent years Bob’s influence is arguably best measured by his generous contribution to the expanding women’s league; most notably extending his voluntary bar service across both Saturdays and Sundays to accommodate the women’s competition (until 2020 when the women’s competition moved to Saturdays). He has been a symbolic ‘torch-bearer’ for the women’s teams at the Club.
These days Bob liaises with AUSF regarding ordering and storage of stock, and is behind the bar every Saturday, regardless of which teams are playing at park 12. Bob’s selfless contribution to Community has been extraordinary. His enthusiasm and good humour are self-evident and infectious. He is indefatigable – a relentless contributor to this football community across myriad influential roles for 32 years and counting.
🏆 Volunteer of the Year (Non-Student) - Sophia Costello, Adelaide University Rugby Club
Sophia has been an extraordinary asset to the AU Rugby, balancing multiple roles with dedication and passion. From the sole coach and manager for the U7s, a player and if injured Assistant Manager & First Aid/Strapper for the Women's team, Sophia has served her second year as Club Captain and is the Club Secretary. She provides vital leadership across all levels and is instrumental in organising numerous Club events and manages canteen operations. Her ability to recruit new players and foster a strong community has significantly improved club culture, increased revenue, and enhanced overall member experience. Despite juggling numerous responsibilities, including being a single parent, Sophia’s tireless behind-the-scenes efforts have made her the glue holding the club together, driving its success forward.
A long-term coach can also receive a ‘Service to Adelaide University Sport’ award, however, as with the Volunteer award, the Coach of the Year awards recognise something significant during the year of the award. The coach awards are split into elite and development categories.
This year we had two winners, one for each category of the Coach of the Year awards.
🏆 Coach of the Year (Elite) - Scott Freer, Lachlan Coppick & Kyle Vucetic, AU Waatu - Basketball
This year a fresh group of coaches took our UBL team to new level of professionalism and performance. This was shown with the women having their most successful season to date and the men’s team making finals with a narrow loss to 2023 Premiers Melbourne University. Our men’s team also made finals at UniNationals finishing 6th (Division 1) from 44 teams. At the 3x3 UniNationals, the team won the Spirt award following Men Team 1 finishing 11th in Division 1 out of 29 teams and Girls finishing 9th in Division 1 out of 21 teams. The Second Men’s side finished 23rd overall (5th in Division 2). With over 120 students trialling for a place in only one men’s and one women’s team, and people already registered for 2025 trials, the program continues to go from strength to strength under the guidance of Scott, Kyle and Lachlan.
🏆 Coach of the Year (Development) - Tony Gunn, Adelaide University Hockey Club
Tony coached both the second-grade men’s and women’s teams in 2024 and awarded 2024 AU Hockey Club Coach of the Year. His development of the two teams this year was instrumental in changing the way they played, and the results were demonstrated on field, with both making the finals and the men’s team playing off in the grand final. He is always willing to put up his hand to help out with coaching and development, umpiring and the day-to-day operations of the facility.
We also celebrated our 2024 Scholarship recipients, Half Blues awardees, and presented Intervarsity Certificates of Merit along with Club Letters for both Competition and Service. Congratulations to all awardees!
A special thank you also goes to our generous sponsors, Howard Vineyard, for their wonderful wines, and Coopers, for providing beer.
We look forward to celebrating success again in 2025 at the 117th Blues Awards!
