The 2023 South Australia Sport Awards, run by peak body Sport SA, were announced on Friday night.

The awards honour individual athletes, teams and events, as well as the people who make competition possible – volunteers, officials, coaches and administrators.

Athlete of the Year winner – Curtis Mead

This year’s athlete of the year is a history-maker.

Curtis Mead became the first South Australian to make Major League Baseball since 2002 when he was promoted to the Tampa Bay Rays main roster in August 2023. He also became the first Australian in 12 years to hit a homer in the major leagues, is the only active MLB player from Australia, and is the first non-pitcher from South Australia to make the big leagues.

He is a product of the Baseball SA system, playing for West Torrens as a junior, the Adelaide Giants in the ABL, and representing South Australia at the U16 and U18 levels.

He lives and trains in South Australia in the off-season.

InDaily Team of the Year winner – Adelaide Thunderbirds

The Thunderbirds celebrate after defeating the Swifts in July. Photo: AAP/James Ross

The Adelaide Thunderbirds broke a decade-long drought to win the 2023 Suncorp Super Netball premiership.

More than that, the team hadn’t made the finals since their last premiership in 2013.

Their win this year in an extra-time thriller against the NSW Swifts will go down in Australian netball history. Five of the 10 contracted Thunderbird players are South Australians who all had progressed through the Netball South Australia’s high-performance pathways.

InDaily Emerging Athlete of the Year winner – Cameron Zajer

Cameron Zajer after receiving her award.

Cameron Zajer is a double-threat, making her mark in both disciplines of volleyball. She has participated in every representative competition for South Australia including youth, junior and senior representative events, and is a South Australian Performance Pathway member.

Cameron’s list of achievements for this year is long and includes a silver medal at the Youth Commonwealth Games 2023 (Beach Volleyball, Under 19) representing Australia, gold at the Australian Youth Beach Volleyball Championships (Under 18) representing South Australia, gold at the Australian Youth Volleyball Championships (Under 18) representing South Australia and gold at the Australian Volleyball Schools Cup (Indoor Volleyball, Open Honours Division) representing Brighton Secondary School.

Para Athlete of the Year winner – Hugo Taheny

Hugo Taheny has had another stellar year.

Hugo Taheny’s extraordinary record continued over the past year, with the power athlete earning his second consecutive win in this category.

Taheny competes nationally and internationally as a 11-2/F21 athlete (Down Syndrome/Intellectual Disability). He also lives with vision and hearing impairment.

He is the current world record holder in IAADS Discus and Shot Put, Virtus Discus and Shot Put, and Virtus Open Mens Para 4 x 100m relay (setting a new world record).

Among an extraordinarily long list of achievements in the past year, he represented Australia at the 2023 Virtus Global Games, winning two gold medals and achieving two new world records.

In addition to these achievements, Taheny contributes to the sport of athletics by positively advocating for the inclusion of athletes living with disability and also supporting able-bodied athletes to develop their skills.

Coach of the Year winner – Viktor Zhuravlev

Gymnastics SA trampoline coach Viktor Zhuravlev took out this year’s award after a stellar 2023 in which he was selected as the South Australian International Stream Head Coach of the Australian Gymnastics Championships. At that competition, his athletes achieved podium finishes including one championship. He was also selected as an Australian team coach.

Event of the Year winners

The judges decided to make two awards this year: one for a community event and the other for a major event.

The major event award went to Grange Golf Club for the LIV Golf tournament in April. The global event welcomed record-breaking crowds and will return to Grange next year. The golf club recruited more than 700 volunteers to the event, pulling it off with just a four-month lead time.

The community event of the year was the country swimming championships, hosted by Mt Gambier Swimming Club. The event was the first to be held at the new Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre in Mt Gambier, attracting more than 400 participants from SA, Victoria, Queensland and NSW.

Active Inclusion Award winner – Schnippers Surf Lifesaving Program

This award goes to a South Australian individual, sport or recreation body, program or event that increases participation opportunities and creates a welcoming environment for people who may be disadvantaged, disengaged, or marginalised

This year’s winner was Schnippers – a collaboration between the Christies Beach Surf Lifesaving Club and Christies Beach Primary School.

It teaches children water safety and surf lifesaving skills, with priority given to students who identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, students with additional learning needs, and low-income students.

The initial plan was to include 20 students from ages five to 13, but an overwhelming response saw 55 students participate in the program.

Reconciliation Award winner – SACA Aboriginal Junior Cricket Academy

The award went to the SACA Aboriginal Junior Cricket Academy, developed to address the lack of cricket-focused programs in the 12-16 age bracket.

The 2022/23 academy catered for 15 young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cricketers, providing a structured program including personal development, such as mindset coaching, nutrition sessions, and strength and conditioning.

Administrator of the Year winner – Ashleigh Goode

Ashleigh Goode, state coordinator of the Special Olympics, was recognised for her innovative work in increasing participation in the sport. Her collaborative approach with regional communities has gained national attention.

She also launched and delivered Special Olympics Australia’s first school holiday program for young people, which is now being used as the template model for other states to roll out.

Volunteer of the Year winner – Brett Nitschke

Brett Nitschke is the highly respected president of the Light Pass Cricket Club, as well as president of the Barossa and Light Cricket Association. He is passionate about junior cricket in the region, looking to maximise participation and grow the sport across age groups and genders.

This passion spills over into coaching representative sides from the area, including the U12 Barossa side which was victorious at the SACA Representative Carnivals in January.

Official of the Year winner – Zoë Eastwood-Bryson

Zoë Eastwood-Bryson has officiated at local, national and international events regularly over the last 12 months.

In August 2023 she was appointed to Athletics Australia Technical Committee International and officiated at events across the world, including the world cross country championships and the world athletics track and field championships in Budapest, Hungary.

In the latter, she was appointed as chief race walk judge – the first time a woman had been appointed to the position at a world athletics championship.

Ruby Warner Spirit of Sport award winner – Ariane Phillpotts-Jones

This award, named in memory of Ruby Warner, goes to an individual who has demonstrated an innate talent and love for their chosen sport and has shown selfless care and commitment to others to ensure they can participate and grow their ability and passion for the sport.

This year’s recipient was Ariane Phillpotts-Jones from the Christies Beach Surf Life Saving Club. She is an accomplished athlete, and also provides great support to the Nippers program at the club. She is an active volunteer at the Schnippers program – another winner in this year’s awards.

In addition to her work on patrol, she performed an out-of-hours rescue this year when a swimmer was swept out to sea on a floatation device.