WITH PATRICK STAVELEY
Hills domestic sport - year in review
While national competitions found a way of continuing and pushing through countless COVID-enhanced obstacles , domestic competitions faced quite the hit and went under the axe during 2021 .
Before it was stopped , Hills United were in 10th place in the NPL NSW Division 2 with Duncan Stewart collecting nine goals for the team . Castle Hill RSL Rockets and Castle Hill United had leads at the top of the table in the Premier League and Premier League Reserves , respectively , in the Hills Football Association .
In the Hornsby , Ku-ring-gai and Hills District Cricket Association A Grade , West Pennant Hills and Kenthurst Upper Hills currently hold 2nd and 3rd position . Nicholas Hammond has got off to a great start for Kenthurst , scoring 153 runs in 3 innings with an average of 51 .
Michael Richards has picked up 10 wickets for West Pennant Hills , with a season best performance of 4 / 39 so far . In the Parramatta District Cricket Association A Grade , the Hills Barbarians and Baulkham Hills are level at the top of the table .
Grant McCartin leads the run-scoring on 105 for the Barbarians while Steven Wickham has 7 wickets to his name .
The East Coast Eagles were on fire in the AFL Sydney Women ’ s Premier Division
2021 , winning 10 from 10 before the season disbanded . In the Sydney Women ’ s Division One the Eagles only lost the one game as they were sitting in third . While it was incredibly disappointing for the season to be cut short with both sides performing really well , it shapes up to be a very positive 2022 .
The Hills Hornets Basketball Association has also decided to join the NBL 1 East in 2022 , creating a massive pathway to basketball players , coaches and officials . The NBL 1 East replaces the Waratah League after an agreement was struck between Basketball NSW and the National Basketball League .
With the establishment of the NBL East , there are now five basketball conferences established across Australia . A club spokesman announced ,
“ We ’ re excited to see how the club
An East Coast Eagles player takes a spectacular mark .
and members strive for yet another major bench mark as the association competes against the strongest and largest clubs in Australia .
“ This is one of our biggest moves in our
35 year history as it unlocks opportunities for players , coaches and officials in a way we have never seen before . Future Hornets will be presented with a pathway that is brighter than it ’ s ever been .”
National sport - year in review HILLS DISTRICT NATIONAL ROUND UP
In a difficult year for the country in general , sport also took a major hit . However , there were still some stars doing the Hills District proud across a number of different stages .
Melbourne Storm and Kellyville ’ s Ryan Papenhuyzen followed up on his Clive Churchill medal and Premiership winning season in 2020 with an injury-disrupted season .
Papenhuyzen struggled with concussion problems throughout the year , missing a total of 11 games while taking a backseat to the explosive seasons of Tom Trbojevic and James Tedesco in the fullback category .
Papenhuyzen made sure he returned to form instantly ; finishing the season with 14 tries in 15 games as Melbourne were knocked out in the preliminary final by eventual premiers Penrith .
Chloe Logarzo played in four games for the Matildas at the Tokyo Olympics as the Women ’ s football side finished just short of a bronze medal . Logarzo played in a group match against the USA and in the Quarterfinals and Semi-finals against Great Britain and Sweden , respectively .
She was also part of the side that lost a dramatic bronze medal match against the USA , 4-3 .
Josh Green also achieved some success with the Boomers in the Basketball at the Tokyo Olympics . Following a debut NBA season with the Dallas Mavericks where he played 39 matches , Green was selected as part of the Australian Basketball squad for the Olympics .
He played limited minutes across the
Olympics campaign , but it was still enough to earn himself a bronze medal as Australia powered their way to a win over Slovenia to claim third .
The Starc brothers , Brandon and Mitchell , enjoyed a big 2021 in their own respective sports . Brandon finished 5th in high jump in an impressive performance that captivated the nation ’ s support as his best height of 2.33m was just 0.04m short of the winner .
Mitchell Starc suffered a disappointing beginning to 2021 with Australia losing the test series to India on home soil as the bowling attack struggled to dislodge India ’ s stubborn batting defence . The T20 World Cup which finished up at the end of last year was a sweet triumph for Australia ’ s cricket side as it marked the first time they ’ ve ever won the T20 World Cup .
Starc notched up nine wickets as the team knocked over South Africa , Sri Lanka , Bangladesh , West Indies , Pakistan and New Zealand in the final .
Cherrybrook ’ s very own tennis star Jordan Thompson , reached a career milestone in 2021 , reaching the third round at Wimbledon for the first time in his career after defeating World No . 14 Casper Rudd and Kei Nishikori in the second round .
The Starc brothers had big years in 2021 .
The Starc brothers , Brandon and Mitchell , enjoyed a big 2021 in their own respective sports - high jump and test cricket . Congratulations to both brothers .
32 ISSUE 79 // JANUARY 2022 theindependentmagazine . com . au THE HILLS INDEPENDENT