Western Australian Awards honour Shire of Katanning and LIWA Aquatic's Jeff Fondacaro and Tony Head

Tony Head, Executive Officer of LIWA Aquatics has been awarded the John Graham Award for exceptional service to the sport and recreation industry at this week's Sport and Recreation Industry Awards 2009.

The award recognised Head's 20-year contribution to industry.

LIWA Aquatics President Jeff Fondacaro also received the LIWA Aquatics Special Service Award at the biennial award ceremony.

Following the event, Western Australia's Sport and Recreation Minister Terry Waldron congratulated the Shire of Katanning, which won two major awards - the Commitment to Participation Award and the prestigious $10,000 Minister’s Award for Industry Excellence.

Minister Waldron said with its commitment to providing sport and recreation opportunities for its culturally diverse community, the shire’s residents were already winners, stating "they now have Western Australian sport and recreation’s most prestigious award to support that.

“On behalf of the State Government and all Western Australians, I congratulate everyone who was honoured with an award on the night - these individuals and organisations represent the highest achievers in the sport and recreation industry.”

The Shire of Katanning’s two awards recognised its implementation of a range of programs and initiatives at Katanning Leisure Centre aimed at engaging community members from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in sport and recreation.

Minister Waldron continued, "it was great to see so many examples of the use of sport and recreation to build stronger, healthier, happier and safer communities among the award finalists and winners.

“The high quality of the record number of entries received reinforces the important work being done by the sport and recreation industry to better the lives of Western Australians no matter their background or where they live.

“The determination and passion of those involved in these projects is what makes the industry so crucial to our society and ensures that WA continues to be a world leader in the delivery of better lifestyle opportunities to the community.”

Run by the Western Australian Department of Sport and Recreation, the awards recognised innovation and exceptional achievement across all areas of sport and recreation in WA and this year coincided with Active 09, the department’s annual industry conference.

The full list of winners are:

Fitness Australia Fitness Professional 2009 Award - Jill Edmonds. Edmonds runs a personal training studio in Margaret River and an online personal training business 
Outdoors WA Achiever Award - Mike Wood. Wood is a Board Member of the Bibbulmun Track and Munda Biddi Trail Foundations, a member of the TrailsWA Reference Panel, State Director of the Australian Himalaya Foundation, Managing Director of Mountain Designs, a Peregrine Travel Centre owner and is Chairperson of the Water, Recreation, Sport and Tourism Alliance  
Parks and Leisure Australia WA Award for Excellence - Creating Communities Australia (for its community Stewardship by Design project at the Village at Wellard)  
WA Sports Federation Achiever’s Award - Swimming WA  
Industry Award for Management - West Australian Football Commission  
Best Revitalisation of an Existing Facility Award - City of Stirling for Leisurepark, Balga  
Provision of Sport and Recreation to Regional WA Award - YMCA Perth, Swim for Life Program  
Award for Volunteer Support - WA Flying Disc Association  
Commitment to Participation Award - Shire of Katanning  
Community Event Award - Football West for Football with the Fuzz 
Major Sport and Recreation Event Award - Triathlon Western Australia for Busselton Festival of Triathlon  
FutureNow Commitment to Professional Development Award - City of Melville 
John Graham Award (for exceptional service to the sport and recreation industry) - Tony Head  
Minister’s Award for Industry Excellence - Shire of Katanning.

Images: Tony Head (left) and Jeff Fondacaro. Credit: Royal Life Saving WA.