Sports snaps with Gus Underwood
Kyabram Fire Brigade Cricket Club has honoured three stalwarts with life memberships.
In a ceremony conducted at the club’s base at Kyabram’s Northern Oval last week to unveil its new electronic scoreboard Paul Newman, Karen Gascoyne and Barty Carver were rewarded for their aggregate 75 years with the club with life membership honours.
Long-serving club president Justin Hooper said his club was indebted to the trio for its contributions over such a long period.
‘‘They have been great servants of the club and very loyal to it over a very long period,’’ Hooper said.
Newman, who is awaiting on knee surgery and may have played his last game with the club, is its greatest run-maker.
His record includes an incredible 18 centuries and five double centuries.
He has been a club multi premiership captain and player and junior coach.
Carver is a 300 games player over a 30-year period with The Flames and is also a multiple premiership player and captain.
Gascoyne has been regarded as the club’s rock for the past 20 years and rated as one of its greatest clubpeople.
She has held the secretary and treasurer’s portfolios with the club and a stalwart executive for many years.
A large number of club players and families of the feted trio were on hand to witness the presentations.
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Kyabram Football Netball Club will start its 2025 Goulburn Valley League campaign hosting Euroa on Saturday, April 5.
Re-elected secretary of the club Paul Shortis said it would negotiate with clubs about staging some night games with the possibility of this happening in the opening round.
‘‘We are working on this with clubs who want to (play night games),’’ Shortis said.
Kyabram will host a Good Friday day game on April 18 against Benalla.
There is a general bye in the league on May 24 when the interleague clash between the Ovens and Murray League and Goulburn Valley League will be played.
Other special rounds are on May 10 (Say No To Voilence), June 7 (King’s Birthday) and rounds 13 and 14 (Indigenous Heritage).
The finals series starts on the weekend of August 30-31 with the grand final on Sunday, September 21.
Apart from Shortis taking on the club’s secretarial position again John Guinan will again hold the presidential reins with club legend Benny Gugliotti returning to the club as vice-president.
Kate Whitford again will be treasurer and 15 people were elected to the committee at the club’s recent well attended annual meeting.
In another coup for the Bombers, record-breaking former Bombers coach Paul Newman will coach the club’s under-16 side in 2025.
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Picola District Football League battler Yarroweyah has gone into recess.
The decision not to field teams in the league next year was made at a recent club meeting, but club president Shaun McAllister has made it clear his club has not folded and will attempt to rejoin the competition in the 2026 season.
On field in football Yarroweyah has been the league chopping block for many years and has suffered many humiliating losses in recent times, but has somehow been able to meet league requirements despite is poor on-field record.
The league’s operations manager Shane Railton said Yarroweyah’s withdrawal wouldn’t alter the 2025 fixture with 15 clubs competing in 15 games over 18 rounds.
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There’s a battle going on at the moment for the services of Shepparton Football Club’s 2018 premiership player Nik Rokahr.
Rokahr switched from South Australian Football League club Norwood to Western Australian Football League club Swan Districts this year and won the Sandover Medal for the league’s best-and-fairest player.
He now wants to return to Norwood where he played 73 games after joining it after Shepparton’s last-gasp flag win over Kyabram in 2018.
But Swan Districts are hearing nothing of it because he still has another year on his contract with that club to fulfil and claims he is still its player.
Negotiations are continuing.