FEDERAL Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch has extended his congratulations to the RIHP North Queensland Rubies hockey team, which has been selected as a finalist in the Beyond Sports Awards.
Mr Entsch is the patron for the Rubies and said it was an incredible achievement for the team, which was named as one of five finalists in the ‘Team of the Year’ category out of 322 entries from 135 countries.
“Considering that the Rubies are up against entries such as the Boston Celtics basketball team and the Tottenham Hotspur football club, this shows the calibre of the competition,” he said.
Beyond Sport is a global organisation that promotes, develops and supports the use of sport to create positive social change across the world. Some of the team members will now have the opportunity to travel to London in late July for the fourth annual Beyond Sport Summit.
“It’s clear that Beyond Sport has recognised that the Rubies, as the first indigenous hockey team to compete internationally, are something special,” Mr Entsch said.
“Their programs give young local women in the Far North’s remote and disadvantaged communities a whole range of skills from coaching and training to educational discipline and communication helping them become role models in the community and showing them the way to regional, state and national selection.”
Mr Entsch paid tribute to Hockey Queensland, Hockey Australia, and the State and Federal Governments for supporting the Remote and Indigenous Hockey Program (RIHP).
“I’m incredibly excited for the Rubies and hope that the representatives who travel to London will have some fantastic experiences, interacting with leaders on a global sports level,” he said.
“I’ll certainly have my fingers crossed for the girls – if they’re named as the winning team then the package of business support that’s on offer will go a long way towards helping them grow in the future.”
The Rubies have an exciting time ahead, playing in Cairns on June 23 as part of the Australia V New Zealand Test Series and launching an interactive DVD ‘Leading the Way’ the same day.