Ice hockey player Fricker named Kwinana Sports Person of the Year

Ice hockey player Sydney Fricker has been named Kwinana’s Sports Person of the Year for 2018.

The Perth Inferno goalie received the major award at a recent awards ceremony at Medina Hall, where about 80 members of the Kwinana sporting community were in attendance as Fremantle Docker Michael Walters and Kwinana Mayor Carol Adams presented the three major awards.

Gun BMX racer Mitchell Pianto was named Junior Sports Person of the Year while ice hockey team manager Alicia Kelly won Club Person of the Year.

Pianto is the reigning WA junior elite champion and the sixth-ranked rider in Australia, and has his sights set on representing his country at the 2020 Olympic Games.

Kelly, described as ‘one of the most amazing people to ever grace the ice hockey community’, contributed in a variety of roles to the development and competition of women’s teams in ice hockey in WA.

The team manager for the Australian national women’s team, Kelly has been called a selfless mentor for putting her own hockey career on the backburner for the sake of supporting other women in the development of theirs.

As well as playing, Fricker also contributed to her sport as a coach of various teams and organised a number of tournaments and fundraisers in WA ice hockey.

Mrs Adams said the recognised talented local athletes and volunteers.

“These awards are about promoting the role of sporting clubs within the City of Kwinana and supporting our local sporting community,” she said.

“This year we saw nominations for community members who have succeeded in a range of sports – from a local level all the way up to national representation.”

Winners were selected by a judging panel of five representatives, including Mrs Adams, Deputy Mayor Peter Feasey, Freeman John Iriks and the Kwinana Citizen of the Year Bram Ziegelaar. The panel interviewed nominees and assessed information provided with each of their nominations.

“The sports awards are one of the many ways we recognise and support local sporting clubs,” Mrs Adams said.

“In more recent years the City has invested extensively in new infrastructure at many of our sporting facilities, giving clubs an improved sense of home and assisting in meeting our community’s sporting needs.”