The recent cyclone that swept across Queensland may have halted the State Masters Titles (weightlifting) but for the Noosa Barbell Club it was turned into a positive: it marked the start of a new and exciting chapter.
With the competition plans suddenly upended, the Noosa lifters have redirected their focus to a long block of training, working with coaches to address weaknesses and building a stronger foundation for the year’s major events. The unexpected break from competition has already been seen as a massive positive – not a setback.
“Of course it’s disappointing to miss the State Masters Titles,” said Noosa Barbell Club President Taj Marsh. “However, it’s also a blessing in disguise. This extra time gives our athletes a real chance to fix technical errors, get stronger and set themselves up for a huge end to the year.”
The next checkpoint for the club will be Queensland Club Round 2, scheduled for mid-June. This event will provide athletes and coaches with a valuable opportunity to assess, progress and adjust their strategies in preparation for a major final push towards the Nationals in September.
Despite the challengers Mother Nature delivered, the Noosa Barbell Crew remains focused, determined and hungry for success. “We’re taking the long view,” said club President Taj Marsh and- he added, “By the Nationals we will be ready to show just how far we have come.”
The ability to sit back, address the situation, and turn a massive negative into a positive, shows a great club attitude. Well done and good luck to all.
Little Athletics
For the Noosa Little Athletics their season has come to a very successful end. Last week a gathering of the clans celebrated what must be one of their best- ever seasons, a club that has it all: good committee, great coaching panel, top athletes and great family support.
Celebrations for the evening were under control of Masters of Ceremonies Val Hooper. Annual presentation and awards were the highlight of the evening with athletes and volunteers being recognized for their efforts throughout the season. Public relations officer Tanya Mattila advised that outstanding performances at centre, regional, state and national levels were recognized by the club,
“Our Presentation and Awards night was a fantastic way to end our season. It started with a delicious spread of food and refreshments, shared by all, and followed by the award presentations.”
The MC opened the celebrations with the first awards given to long term committee members and volunteers, Dani Allgood and for Samantha Hooper, for their five years of dedicated service.
An array of awards were presented, starting with the youngest group of athletes the Tiny Tots. The age champion and Runner Up trophies were presented to each of the age groups from under 6 to under 17 boys and girls. The Centre Perpetual awards were presented to Marlon Andrews- Athlete of the Year, Eli Melinz- Out of Stadia, Most Improved Athlete Violet Hunter. Centre Encouragement Award Violet Hunter
The Encouragement Trophy- Charlie Horne, Coaches Trophy- Eli Melinz, Captains Choice Junior Freddy Frisby, Captains Choice Senior- Charlotte Brown, Sprint Award-Melinz Family, Volunteer of the Year- Brenda Toovey and Age Manager of the Year- Lucy Corley. For all those wishing to see a full list of award recipients can be found on Noosa Little Athletics Club website, including details on how to register for the next season commencing in September 2025.
Caza Jiu Jitsu Club
From the Caza Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club Noosa Heads, comes a full report from a three-day Jiu-Jitsu camp, that was held for all Caza affiliated clubs on 3-5 May at the newest affiliate, Caza Agnes Water on Bicentennial Road in Agnes Water.
It was attended by 60 adults and kids including Caza affiliated members from Headquarters in Noosa, Caza Hinterland in Cooroy, Caza Caloundra in Monday Beach, Drop Bear in Ipswich: with some members driving up to six hours to come and participate, thus supporting the new club. The new club opened 10 months ago, and has almost reached an impressive membership of 100 members
Caza has currently six affiliations. These consist of Caza Headquarters, Caza Hinterland, Caza Caloundra, Caza Agnes Water, Caza Drop Bear (Ipswich) and Rolling Fitness (Maroochydore). Day 1 the first session was taught by head coach and owner of Caza Hinterland, Cheyne Douglas who taught gi fundamentals,and some advanced submissions.
The second session was taught by Andrew Bailey, head coach and owner of Caza Caloundra, who taught a no-gi class focusing on stand-up takedowns and some advanced controls and submissions. Day two was taught by the owner of Caza Headquarters in Noosa, Yoshinori Hasegawa, focusing on passing guard techniques.
Day three was taught by Kallan Callcott and David Vass- Bowen, instructors at Drop Bear in Ipswich: teaching advanced no- gi controls, particularly taking the back. It was a very successful trip, and all members had an enriching jiu-jitsu learning experience: happy to say, filled with laughter and sweat.
Rugby League.
It has been a very busy weekend for Noosa Pirates with games from the senior A grade right through to the U11 Girls. A big well done to the U11 Girls as this was their Gala Day. This is a new division (this year,) and it is a great step forward, because there are now six teams.
In the A grade vs Stanley Rivers, the Pirates went down 16-4. The Reserve grade men started slow being 12-0 down at half time. But a great effort by the Pirates saw them come back to win 16-12. The C grade had it really tough in Kilcoy going down 44-6, and Opens women’s had to forfeit, and the U19 men’s had a bye: this rounded off the senior games.
Juniors started Friday night with the U15 girls winning over Nambour 50-0, the U15 boys beat Caloundra 16-14 on the bell. The U17 girls had no game -opponents forced to forfeit, while the U17 boys had a good win against Bribie Island 18-6: the U14 boys had a win 28-18 over Maroochydore, but the U13 boys, just short to Gympie 24-20. The U13 girls and U14 boy have now won all their first three games. Good to see juniors on the move, as the juniors are the future of club football.
Between the Flags
At this time of the year our volunteer lifesavers in the state of Queensland stop and do a down-to-earth assessment of beach fatalities. This season 2025, unfortunately saw a total of 12 drownings, on the state’s beaches: from 11 in 2022/23 and 8 in 2023/24.
It is to be noted that all the drownings happened outside the patrolled areas, away from the red and yellow flags, on non-patrolled beaches. “Five of these drownings happened on the Gold Coast, as more than two million people flocked to those beaches.“ Another major problem according to SLSQ operating officer Greg Cahill were, “The number of people swimming outside patrol hours.” Another problem is experienced with swimmers encouraging others to swim outside the flags.
It has also come to note that had it not been for the outstanding effort of the lifesavers and lifeguards, who performed an incredible 1052 rescues and 109,760 preventative actions (performed to avert trouble) as 4.28 million arrived on the state’s beaches, the figures would have been worse.
Mr. Cahall also draws attention to the Emergency Response Beacons, like the one installed at Noosa.
When we talk about incredible rescues, what could be better than a rescue performed by three Sunshine Beach nippers, Louie Hammersley, Liam Wright and Kai Ackerman, who rescued a stricken swimmer, during a surf carnival at Mooloolaba in February.
These three 13-year-olds, who train under former top iron series competitors Wes and Jade Berg, have just finished a very successful season competing at state and national level. Success at both rescue work and competition shows these young lifesavers to be great all-round clubmen.
