Cooper Wilkinson’s and Amelia Mazzei’s list of achievements in 2018 are lengthy and they can both add another trophy to their cabinets after Saturday night.
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The duo were named the Male Athlete of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year, respectively, at the Northern Inland Academy of Sport 2018 Annual Awards Night.
Wilkinson, who plays out of Gunnedah, was recognised for his sensational form on the tennis court while Armidale’s Mazzei is a para track athlete and has been putting on some incredible displays in the spikes.
Wilkinson was honoured to win the award and said being a part of NIAS has helped him in more ways than one.
“NIAS has made me a better person and tennis, as we know, it’s an individual sport most of the time so to be in a team environment, it changes the game but it’s very supportive as well and it’s helped me a lot,” Wilkinson said.
Mazzei’s mum, Ariane, said her daughter had benefited greatly from being a part of the athletics team.
“It’s obviously really exciting. She works very, very hard,” Ariane said of the award.
“She [Amelia] has a lot of challenges outside of athletics and athletics helps her break those challenges down and she’s excelling.”
Ariane said Amelia has “grown and grown” since she started training in a team environment with both Armidale Athletics and NIAS.
Throughout the year she competed at the Australian Championships and the Commonwealth Games qualifiers, just to name a few.
She said coach Jay Stone had played a big part of her growth.
“She is the first para athlete he’s [Stone] ever had and, all credit to him, he’s changed his style of coaching to meet the needs of all athletes including Milly,” Ariane said.
“His guidance has been invaluable.”
Wilkinson, who’s won a plethora of tournaments this year on his way to being ranked 12th in Australia for his age, wanted to return to the NIAS fold in 2019 unless a bigger opportunity presented itself.
He also noted how much he’d enjoyed his time representing NIAS during the year.
“NIAS tennis has had a lot of great trips away and we’ve had a lot of support,” Wilkinson said.
AWARD WINNERS
2018 Male Athlete of the Year: Cooper Wilkinson
2018 Female Athlete of the Year: Amelia Mazzei
2018 Volunteer of the Year: Welington Sardinha (football)
2018 Sarah Heagney Award: Sophie Sincock (netball)
2018 Communicator of the Year: Maddison Collier (netball)