Socceroos collect Two Major awards

It was a night of triumph for Australia’s, Grant Hackett, with the swimming sensation creating Awards history as the first athlete to take out Male Athlete of the Year and the Dawn Fraser Award.

The Dawn Fraser Award, presented personally by the Australian swimming legend, was presented to Grant for his achievement internationally as well as his contribution to the sport of swimming and the Australian community.

It was a great night all-round for the sport of swimming with world record holder Leisel Jones also taking out the female’s top honours, Female Athlete of the Year, and team mate Lisbeth Lenton winning the Young Female Athlete of the Year.

But Hackett was not the night’s only double gold, with the Sydney Swans taking away both National Team of the Year Award and Coach of the Year.

The Socceroos were also seeing double, taking the Australian Sporting Moment of the Year, a new Award decided by the Australian public. Their World Cup Qualifier won over nine other memorable Australian sporting moments of 2005 in a land slide victory with over 90% of the votes. This was soon followed by gold for International Team of the Year over the Kookaburras and the Australian World Road Championships Team.

"It is a tremendous privilege for the Qantas Socceroos to be honoured at the Australian Sport Awards and is something in which the players, the FFA, and indeed all Australian sports fans can take great pride," said Football Federation Australia Chief Executive John O'Neill.

"The Socceroos are truly representative of Australian society and have proven themselves to be wonderful ambassadors both on and off the field.

The Australian Sport Awards are conducted by the nation’s peak body for sport, the Confederation of Australian Sport, and are the premier Awards for sport in Australia.

“I think the key to the Australian Sport Awards is that it recognises all individuals regardless of which sport they come from”, said Michael Sparks, President of the Confederation of Australian Sport.

“Whether they are from major individual and team sports or the lower profile sports, everyone has the opportunity to be recognised for their performance.”

In fact, the Australian Sport Awards are the only Awards in the country that cover all sports and all areas of the sports sector, from athletes and coaches to administrators, sports businesses, IT providers and sports tourism.

WINNERS

Business Innovation Award
Access Dinghy Sailing Systems Pty Ltd - SKUD18 (VIC)

Coach of the Year
Paul Roos - Football (AFL)

Executive of the Year
David Gallop - Rugby League

Female Athlete of the Year
Leisel Jones - Swimming

Information Technology Award
Deaf Sports Australia - Deaf Sports

International Team of the Year
Australian Men’s Football Team - Football (Soccer)

Male Athlete of the Year
Grant Hackett - Swimming

Masters Athlete of the Year
Peter Barnard - Cycling

Masters Team of the Year
Men’s 55 Track Relay Team - Athletics

National Team of the Year
Sydney Swans - Football (AFL)

Official of the Year
Bill Mildenhall - Basketball

Sports Media Award
SBS coverage of World Cup Qualifier - Football (Soccer)

Sports Person of the Year with a Disability
Chris Scott OAM - Cycling

Sports Tourism Award
Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under

Young Australian Female Athlete of the Year
Lisbeth Lenton - Swimming

Young Australian Male Athlete of the Year
Chris Noffke - Athletics

Young Australian Team of the Year
Australian Junior Men’s Downhill Team - Downhill Mountain Bike

Editor Note: Confederation of Australian Sport media release relayed on to us by the FFA.