SYDNEY UNI SPORT & FITNESS MAGAZINE SPRING 13

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‘Blue&Gold’THE SPIRIT OF SPORT AT SYDNEY UNIVERSITY I SPRING 2013BY RODNEY TUBBSThe first of this year’s ‘Blue & Gold’football functions (the 2013 ‘Blue & Gold’Aussie Rules Luncheon) was covered inROAR 19. In this edition, we report onthe 2013 ‘Blue & Gold’ Soccer FootballDinner and the 2013 ‘Blue & Gold’Rugby Luncheon, which were held justone week apart in the month of June.‘Blue & Gold’ SoccerFootball DinnerOn the evening of Friday, June 14,approximately 200 Sydney UniversitySoccer Football Club (SUSFC) supportersdescended on Doltone House for theannual ‘Blue & Gold’ Soccer FootballDinner. The Master of Ceremonies atthis function was SUSFC’s self-confessed“defrocked” Treasurer, now SUSFCSecretary, Ross Xenos, who once againexhibited great enthusiasm in that role.The principal entertainment at ‘Blue &Gold’ Soccer Football Dinners is AdamSpencer’s panels, which have beenrenowned for the quality of both themoderator and his panellists over thepast eight years.This reputation was only enhanced thisyear when Adam firstly matched wits with:• Lyall Gorman – Executive Chairman ofWestern Sydney Wanderers and formerhead of A-League; and• Tony Pignata – CEO of Sydney FC andformer CEO of Wellington Phoenix.Naturally, the focus was on the WesternSydney Wanderers’ stunningly successfuldebut season and the massive interestcreated by Sydney FC’s signing ofItalian superstar Alessandro Del Piero.Dinner guests were left with the distinctimpression that the new across townrivalry between the Western SydneyWanderers and Sydney FC is extremelyhealthy for the game in Australia.Adam’s second panel comprised:• Bonita Mersiades – leading footballjournalist and Senior Director ofAustralia’s World Cup bid;• Frank Farina – current Sydney FC coachand legendary player and coach of theAustralian Socceroos; and• Mark McCormick – SUSFC men’s firstgrade Head Coach.This panel produced wonderfullyentertaining stories about football at theinternational, national and club level. Thepanellists’ obvious passion for the roundball game was infectious – there was areally good feeling in the room and thissegment concluded with a prolongedovation from our dinner guests.The audience comprised lots of currentSUSFC players (both men and women),as well as SUSFC supporters, includingpast players from many different eras.A number of unsolicited donationswere made on the night to the SoccerFootball Division of the University ofSydney Sport Foundation.Incredibly, one of those donations from anexceptionally generous SUSFC benefactorwas for a substantial five figure sum!As always, Nathan Kosmina, the SUSFCOperations Manager, and John Curran,our Director of Football, managed tosource some highly sought after liveand silent auction items. Further fundswere raised via a traditional raffle anda competition to correctly identifysupposedly “Famous Faces”.Another money spinner involved themass auctioning of 25 Hummel soccerballs signed by SUSFC Socceroo,Michael Thwaite, together with 25bottles of quality wine – $140 was thegoing price for a ball plus vino. All winebottles were numbered and ... by lot... the owner of one of them got to winthe use of a next season’s box at anA-League game in Sydney.The annual ‘Blue & Gold’ SoccerFootball function works well as a dinner,because it caters for a large and foreverincreasing SUSFC “family” of current andpast players plus supporters.Other ‘Blue & Gold’ sporting functions relymore heavily on corporate table support.Such guests usually prefer functions thattake place during their employers’ timethan “after hours” functions which arestaged in their private time!Plenty of activity on Table 8. L to R: Pina Panebianco, Daniel Panebianco, Michael Mantikos, Katina Mantikos,Maisie Squadrito, John Curran, Mark McCormick, Birgit Hartl, Irwan Hassan, Michelle Mitchell.44 SYDNEY UNI SPORT & FITNESS
‘Blue & Gold’Rugby LuncheonTony Pignata parries an Adam Spencer question.Yet another VIP at the Soccer Football Dinner – Sydney FC Coach and former Socceroo player and coach, Frank Farina.Players and supporters extraordinaire. L to R: Andrew Bray, Matt Demetriou, Simon Phillips, Brendan Casey, Brian Thachery, Emma Schiller,Rob Smithies, David Shaw, Michael Baume, Amy Sarandopoulos, Adam Spencer, Bruce Ross, David Gibb, John Murray, Jim Zammit.The 17th consecutive staging of theannual ‘Blue & Gold’ Rugby Luncheonwas held on Friday, June 21 at the FourSeasons Hotel.The entertainment commencedwith Adam Spencer dissecting theinternational, Super 15 and club rugbyseasons to that point in time with:• Chris “Nobby” Malone – a Sydney UniFootball Club (SUFC) Shute Shieldwinningcaptain in 2001, who thenplayed 10 years of professional rugbyin England before returning to SUFCin a coaching capacity midway throughthe 2011 club rugby season (now ourHead Coach); and• Tom Kingston – a dynamic outsidecentre or winger with Sydney Universityand the NSW Waratahs (Tom hadplayed against the British and IrishLions on the Saturday prior to thisluncheon).Chris Malone’s answers to Adam’s astutequestions were great insights into thecareer path and associated travel andsacrifices required for a rugby-loving kidfrom a small NSW country town (Coolah)determined to make his living from thegame they play in heaven.In 2009, Tom Kingston gained selectionin the Australian Schoolboys side, beforeachieving a remarkable 99 rankingbased on his HSC marks at the end ofthat year. However, as a result of hisrepresentative achievements in rugby,Tom’s HSC ranking was boosted by 5additional bonus points. This resulted inTom Kingston scoring 104 out of 100 inhis 2009 ATAR ranking and earning the“smartest man in rugby” tag!Mr. Spencer’s eyes lit up at the prospectof a highly cerebral conversation, butTom very cleverly kept the focus on hisWWW.SUSF.COM.AU 45
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Page 17: the world…By Andrew TilleyThe mon
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Page 42 and 43: KEMPO KARATEThe Sydney University K
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SYDNEY UNI SPORT & FITNESS MAGAZINE SPRING 13

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