Voice photographer Ivan Kemp ventured to Ocean Grove main beach on Monday July 24 to see how beachgoers were filling in their day.

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Ocean Grove artist William (Bill) Linford confronts a kaleidoscope of positive and negative memories and emotions in his Hollow Grove exhibition opening at The Royal Queenscliff this weekend. He speaks with Jena Carr about how he started in art and what his works mean.

William (Bill) Linford is known for his series of oil paintings on canvas like the farmers, cricketers or clowns collections, which have been displayed at art galleries around Australia.

Bill said he had always been interested in the arts and had been sketching and painting for a long time.

I always wanted to draw and as a kid I used to draw at primary school for people, Id do their caricatures and they would give me lollies for them, he said.

I got encouraged at primary school by a teacher to continue and that I might have had something, but I forgot about all that.

I broke my shoulder in a work accident, and I was sitting at home for six months, and I decided to get some paints, have a go at that, and it became a hobby.

We had children, and the hobby sort of moved into a bit more of a semi-professional thing and then become sort of professional about 15 years ago.

Bill has been creating art since 1970 and said he liked many things about painting, but getting lost and immersed in the process was a highlight.

When I get into the zone, Im in the zone, and its just the most marvellous feeling, he said.

I think theres too much to tell. Im an old man, and Ive had many brilliant experiences. Most have been very positive, but some of them have been questionable.

I feel pretty good about it, and I try to encourage many other people, mainly young people, as I was a youth worker for a long time, to take up the brush.

Ive had a pretty great life and I just want to expand on my thought process, because what goes on up here (his head) is quite interesting.

Many of Bills paintings are pretty bold, which he said he had done with the intention that they would jump out at the viewer and that he had a process that mostly remained the same.

Ive got so many ideas in my head and not have enough time, he said.

I do a rough sketch first, which doesnt take me very long, then Ill put the sketch onto the canvas and start painting.

Ill keep going until Ive probably done about seven or eight layers of paint until I get the feel I want.

Once you get a process, its pretty hard to break that. Ive tried different techniques and mediums, but Im too old to be doing that now. Id love to, but this is pretty good.

People say, I saw your cricketers, and Ill say, Just look at the guy with the shoes on the wrong feet, and theyll go back and have a look.

Thats for my benefit. I have to do quirky things for me just so it engages me a bit more too.

Bill said he found it cathartic working on the...

Geelong council has approved the concept design of stage two of the North Bellarine Aquatic Centre.

As stage one almost ready to open, with the outdoor, eight lane 50-metre pool now filled with water, stage two is focused on the indoor component of the aquatic centre.

After plenty of community engagement and passionate discussion around what the aquatic centre should include, the projects Community Advisory Panel reached a consensus with Scenario I, the ninth of nine proposed concepts, at its final meeting on July 5.

Scenario I includes such features as an indoor, eight lane, 25-metre pool, a warm water pool and health and wellness facilities, including a gym and group fitness areas.

Stage two has a budget of $40 million, with Federal Member for Corangamite Libby Coker pledging half that figure and State Member for Bellarine Alison Marchant committing the other half.

Scenario I exceeds that budget by $300,000, but the City has proposed that the additional capital expense can be managed through the detailed design phase and internal project efficiency and prioritisation measures.

Councillors unanimously approved the concept design at Tuesday nights meeting, with Geelong mayor and Bellarine Ward councillor Trent Sullivan thanking the community, council officers, the advisory panel, his fellow councillors and local MPs Marchant and Coker.

(It) has been a dream for many, many decades for the Bellarine to have a full aquatic centre, that people dont have to go all the way to Geelong to have full access to our aquatic services, Mayor Sullivan said.

A lot of great works happened over a long time to get to where we are now. Its a tremendous job and it shows a lot of good will.

I just cant wait to see the ball rolling, and the community cant wait to see the final outcome as well.

Councillor Stephanie Asher, who kickstarted the project during her time as mayor, congratulated the Bellarine community.

This has been a very long time coming. Thank you to the panel (for coming) up with a facility that really does try and meet the needs of everybody in the community; well done to everybody concerned.

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Orlagh Davison is an Ocean Grove Surf Life Saving Club member and one of its Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB) athletes. She speaks with Jena Carr about what she loves about living, working and studying in Ocean Grove.

What is your connection to Ocean Grove?

It is my home. I grew up in Ocean Grove, from kindergarten through to high school.

Ive also always been involved in the local sporting clubs and helping the community where I can.

What do you like about where you live?

I like how close I am to the ocean, nature reserves, parks and wetlands, that allow me to explore and enjoy the outdoors. The community is also so supportive, and we all look out for one another.

What, if anything, would you change about where you live?

As the economy continues to boom, the expenses associated with purchasing and renting properties are rising.

The community is experiencing rapid growth, exacerbating the issue of insufficient living spaces for young people to inhabit.

Where is your favourite place to spend time?

I love spending time at the beach, especially along the river or Barwon Bluff, or enjoying a coffee at one of the local cafes.

What is something people may not know about you?

Im not a true local as Im originally from England. My family and I migrated to Ocean Grove when I was five.

What do you like about your Ocean Grove Surf Life Saving Club role?

I love the opportunities my role within the surf club has provided me with.

The awards, skills, knowledge and employment along the way have all benefited my personal growth and my studies.

The ability to notice dangers before they occur is also a skill learnt through my role within the club, and the ability to remain calm in ever-changing environments.

I also enjoy the community, challenges, and lifelong friendships I have developed throughout this role.

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There were 24 entries for topic four with a high standard of expression and a large number being discussed as possible winners of the Bellarine Writing Competition.

The judges couldnt separate Helen Friee and Janet Campbell.

Notable mentions go to Ali Holborn, Jenny Macaulay, Terry Draper, Dennis Butler, Mark Towse and Wes Furyk.

Topic five is the last one for the year before the Final to be held during September/October. Simply write a story about the picture in the advertisement on this page.

Helen Friee presented an 18th-century view of an historical character and light-heartedly commented about his love of alchemy and the views of his watchful female neighbour, the judges said.

The language is rich and tightly controlled.

Janet Campbell presented a vivid description of a family celebrating a special occasion in a way that means much to them, especially Joe and his father, involving the reader in the experience.

Janet Campbell

Janet lives on the northern Bellarine where she is a member of Portarlington Neighbourhood House Fiction and Haiku writing groups. She volunteers with Friends of Point Richards, has a productive vegie patch, regularly tries to play golf and enjoys the Bellarines beauty. Her eclectic paid-work experiences have included non-fiction writing and editing, and also provided lots of opportunity to see the funny and poignant side of human sagas.

Joes birthday by Janet Campbell

On Joes birthday we had a great morning playing cricket with the kids from over the road. He used his new bat, but he let us have a go only on the grass. Then Joe, Tom, Frankie and I went out on the mudflats to check the pots wed set with Dad the day before. Marys too young to handle the

suck-down, so Kev minded her and the carry crates while they explored around the rocks near the track.

Dad called it payday when the pots filled. Fresh mud crabs on special bread with butter, salt and pepper for tea. Ripper. We had to be back by three, because thats when Dad would get home with crusty bread from the posh bread shop, marshmallows for toasting and bags of ice for the crab bath. Kev had Mums old watch so he kept yelling out the time to us. There wasnt time for mucking around.

We scored eight crabs all up. Frankie and I got spiked getting them into the two crates, but the others were lucky. Skilful, they said. Inside me I could smell the fire and taste the crabs as we walked back, I was that excited. Everyone picked up a stick along the track to use for fire-prodding and marshmallow-toasting later.

Dad had a regular crab-cooking performance. Hed fill the pots with water to the perfect level, add secret amounts of those big pink salt crystals, weird leaves and herbs to each one, add the crabs, put the pots to boil and tell us again that wed get the secret to the perfect crab cook when we turned 13. We never t...

It was near perfect winter weather for Tennis Geelongs juniors this week and Section 3 Boys made the most of the conditions with some of the longest matches of the round and the race to make finals getting closer.

All Saints put themselves within four points of fourth spot when they registered a 4-2 win over Drysdale. The teams split the doubles with Daniel Lazzaro and Alexander Williams winning 6-0 for the Saints while Taj Croft and Patrick Lonegran got through in a tie breaker for Drysdale.

From there All Saints took over winning the first three singles, with Lazzaro winning 6-0 to not drop a game for the day, while Lonegran posted Drysdales second set winning the fourth singles 6-3.

Western Heights Uniting closed the gap on fourth to seven points when they pulled through by 11 games when tied at three sets all with Highton. Evie Ryan and Lima Begg won the first doubles 6-1 for Uniting while Hightons Charlie Hair and Ivan Cottom came through in a tie-break in the second.

Ryan backed up her doubles win with a 6-0 win in singles and with Madison Muir winning the third singles 6-1, the result was put beyond doubt.

Grovedale Black put themselves within two points of second with an away win against Ocean Grove. Will Clayton and Sebastian Broad were well matched at number 1 with a lengthy tie-break in the singles going to Ocean Groves Broad while Clayton teamed with Jaylen Sach to get through in the doubles in another tie-break.

Sach, along with Yvette Harman won their singles 6-1, and Harman teamed with Jess Lee to win the second doubles 6-3 giving Black the win four sets to two.

The final match of the morning saw second placed Grovedale Yellow host Geelong Lawn in an epic battle with the result being decided by only two games. Jake Peck and Joshua Severin-Harvey came off court first winning 6-3 for Lawn, before Yellows Guy Wingrave and Hanna Schoenmaekers took the second doubles 6-4.

Fletcher Allen found some good form in the second singles, winning 6-1 while in the first Peck faced a lengthy battle with Aki Bhatt eventually coming through in a tie break.

The fourth singles saw Alfie Oliver and Schoenmaekers running themselves ragged in a hard fought match. Oliver got to a 3-0 lead before the match started to tighten.

At 2-3 down, Schoenmaekers failed to hold a marathon game, going down 4-2 and Oliver eventually took the match 6-2. With the final singles underway, Lawn held a three sets to two lead with only one game in hand, and things were getting tense on the sidelines.

Joe Traficante and Wingrave traded points and games until they reached a tie-break, and with Traficante hitting a lunging backhand just over the net for a winner on match point, the win was sealed for Lawn at four sets to two and two games.

The post All Saints close in on fin...

Although the name BYD will be well-known to electric vehicle buyers, its still largely unknown in the Australian motoring mainstream but thats about to change.

Somewhat quirkily BYD stands for Build Your Dreams and the Chinese company is actually the worlds second-largest manufacturer of fully-electrified vehicles, second only to Tesla.

When plug-in hybrids (PHEV) are added, its the largest, with over 1.6 million built in 2022.

Although there were a couple of BYD models sold in Australia from 2017 onwards these were private imports.

It wasnt until the arrival of the Atto 3 in June, 2022 that the brand made any impact, and an impressive one at that, with sales of nearly 7000 in its first year.

A fully-electric compact SUV, the Atto 3 comes in two variants. Theres Standard Range and Extended Range, priced at $48,011 and $51,011 respectively (plus ORCs).

Thats around the same price as its closest competitor and compatriot, the MG ZS EV which also comes with standard and long-range variants.

STYLING

With a length of 4455mm, Atto 3 is around the same size as Mazda CX-3, Nissan Qashqai and Toyota CH-R but 135mm longer than the MG.

Although the overall design of the Atto 3 is neat and attractive, its relatively conservative especially when compared to the Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6.

As with most electric cars theres no real or pretend grille.

A horizontal bar with the BYD insignia on it merges into narrow sweeping LED headlights with a thin band of LED daytime running lights between them.

The profile is similar to many similarly-sized SUVs although we did love the design of the 18-inch alloy wheels.

We find the Build Your Dreams lettering spaced across the rear a bit too quirky.

We understand that some owners have been able to successfully remove the letters without causing damage but dont take our word for it.

The rear also features a full width LED brake light and powered tailgate.

Four colours are offered. White is standard while the other three (grey, blue and red) are $700 extra.

INTERIOR

When you step inside the BYD Atto 3 Monty Pythons catchphrase And Now For Something Completely Different springs to mind.

It is very different with a number of groundbreaking interior features.

We reckon buyers who are willing to think outside the square and buy a BYD will love the adventurous approach of this newcomer to the Australian market.

With predominantly sculpted soft-touch materials, overall build quality and fit and finish of the Atto 3 is excellent.

Some of the features are gimmicky, others are functional. Some are both, such as the three guitar-type strings that act as sides of the door storage pockets, but which are just asking to be twanged.

We shudder to think how annoying that could be on a long trip with children in the rear.

After initially searching for...

The last few weeks have been freezing, and reading a book by the fire has been much preferable to being outdoors.

Most of my birdwatching has been performed on my way to and from work, as usual. The highlight was seeing an eastern barn owl flying over the roundabout at the corner of the Bellarine Highway and Grubb Road, near the new BP service station, when I was driving home from afternoon shift at 10pm.

Its not great for me or other drivers when an owl is spotted as its so distracting when driving, so fortunately there were no incidents.

Ive been driving to Point Henry on my way to work, as I usually can guarantee to see a raptor of the day if I detour to this area.

I spotted a black-shouldered kite, a few brown falcons, a pair of nankeen kestrels and a whistling kite, so there were raptors to spot.

There was a flock of around 20 red-necked stints. They are a species of migratory shorebirds in one of the shallow ponds at Point Henry. Many of these birds would be currently breeding in the Northern Hemisphere, and each year a small number of these birds chose to remain in Australia rather than flying 10,000km to breeding grounds in Siberia and Alaska.

Apparently, it is mostly young birds that remain on our shores and brave the cold winter months.

There have also been approximately 15 banded stilts at Point Henry in a mixed flock with pied or black-winged stilts. Banded stilts are bigger than pied stilts (39cm compared to 35cm) and are dispersive when seeking out feeding and breeding sites. They are such graceful and beautiful birds.

I received a message from Robyn, who lives on a lovely property in Wallington.

Robyn said there has been a flock of up to 100 yellow-tailed black cockatoos visiting her property at dusk to feed on the banksias and hakeas along the driveway. I called around one day, but unfortunately the cockatoos must have found an alternative feeding site that day but did have a lovely walk around the garden.

I was happy to hear about the good number of cockatoos seen by Robyn and can only imagine how much noise 100 cockatoos would make.

I received an email from Geoff, who spotted a little pied cormorant drying out its wings while perched at Blue Waters Lake.

Cormorants, like some other bird species, possess glands that secrete oil that keeps their feathers waterproof. However their feathers can become easily waterlogged after diving under the surface of the water for food, so they spread their wings to dry them out after diving.

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On the back of the state governments decision to call off the Commonwealth Games, there are details around some promised sports facility upgrades in the Geelong region that are up in the air.

Thankfully, theres much more positive news for the council-managed aquatic centre in Drysdale.

The first stage of the major development is almost ready to open, and were making significant progress on the indoor facilities that will follow.

Council this week approved the concept designs for the second stage of the North Bellarine Aquatic Centre.

Key features include:

An indoor aquatic centre

Eight-lane 25 metre pool

A warm-water pool

Aqua play area

Hydrotherapy; and

Various associated facilities

A lot of detailed and thoughtful work went into developing the approved concept.

Id like to thank the 12-member Community Advisory Panel for its valuable input, which has helped council settle on its preferred design.

The panel included people with specialist swimming/aquatics knowledge, people with a lived experience of disability and representatives from local schools, community groups and sports clubs.

Their work has ensured that the stage two offering will meet the needs of the wider community.

Over four months the panel shaped and enhanced the projects design via nine different concepts.

It was the ninth concept that the panel unanimously supported proceed to detailed design works.

The indoor centre will have something for all aquatic users.

From babies taking to the water for the first time, through to seniors accessing rehabilitation and water exercise programs, the facilities will cater to everyone.

Stage two has been supported by $20 million each from the Victorian and Australian governments.

By working together across all levels of government, we are creating a lasting and well-considered facility that will serve the Bellarine for many years to come.

This welcome progress comes on the back of the final touches being applied to the outdoor lap pool in the Drysdale Sporting Precinct.

The $15.5 million development ($10m from the Australian government, $5.5m from council) includes an outdoor 50-metre, eight-lane heated pool.

It will open later this year, and will provide another option on the Bellarine for local and visiting swimmers.

For more information on the project, visit geelongaustralia.com.au/nbac

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Bellarine Indoor Bias Bowls Association (BIBBA) is in full swing with a seven-week home and away season making way for finals.

Around 40 players competed for Ocean Grove, including many first-year players, and have enjoyed yet another successful time on the mat with four of their seven teams making this seasons finals.

Finals will take place over the next two Monday nights for the Grovers where they will be looking to win Divisions 1, 2 and 3.

This years BIBBA competition consisted of six clubs from Drysdale, St Leonards, Clifton Springs, Leopold, Lifestyle and Ocean Grove with more than 120 players competing in the weekly Monday night competition.

Every club will be represented in finals which is great to see the growth of the game in the Bellarine area.

Ocean Grove held its Indoor Club Singles on July 23 with a great day of competition with 18 men and nine ladies competing.

The ladies final was taken out by first year player Jill Dwyer, claiming a 16-10 victory over Sue Collins.

The mens event saw another first-year player, Tyson Cromie, make the final but was defeated by multiple times champion Matt Flapper 19-9.

Collins and Flapper will take on the Champion of Champions this week in a bid to claim honours as the best in the Bellarine.

The Bellarine Pairs took place in June with 32 teams entering the event.

On one half of the draw, it was the St Leonards pairing of Bill Maloney and Tam Munster who worked their way to the final and on the other side of the draw Leopolds Jane McMenaman and Nicole Shortis reached the big dance. The Leopold duo cruised to a 20-4 win claiming the 2023 title.

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The bay has seemed a little quiet this past week with reports being very hit and miss but Australian salmon remained pretty consistent with plenty of spotfire bust ups across Clifton Springs with birds diving and fishing splashing around.

When they are like this they will practically eat anything you throw in the water but ideally a 3-inch minnow profile soft plastic or metal lure.

Around St Leonards has seen some great whiting fishing this past week with anglers having great success landing bag limit captures with fish to 43cm on offer.

Fishing the tides with fresh or frozen squid is ideal. Burley definitely helps and if you sit a bigger bait behind the boat you can expect some solid flathead to pick it up.

The offshore barrel bite is still going pretty good with reports still rolling through but due to poor weather it has made it a little difficult to get out. Keen anglers have been finding small gaps in the weather and have been getting amongst the action with still plenty of fish to well over 100kg on offer.

Reece and Steve got out for a crack and after unfortunately losing one early in the morning they were rewarded for their efforts landing one that came in at 110kg cleaned.

The Barwon River remained a very popular location for anglers this week with the trevally still going nuts. Soft plastics are working very well for them at the moment with small curl and paddle tails doing the damage. Plenty of scent has been helping a lot, too.

There has also been a ton of salmon in the system, most of them are just around that legal size mark although Michael Stavropoulos landed one that went 63cm which is a monster for this system.

Wurdibuloc has been a popular location again with redfin on fire.

The rockwall has been fishing very well for anglers throwing soft plastics and spoon type lures with fish to over 40cm on offer. Anglers have also been picking up some nice numbers of trout.

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Geelong author Emma Greville has released a new book that tackles problems faced by kids in primary schools under the mask of a fantastical adventure.

Raine in the Underlands follows the main character Raine as she embarks on a journey of self-discovery after shooting a blue flame from her finger and finding a cursed dragon in the basement.

Ms Greville said the fun middle-grade fantasy adventure, released on July 25, looked to help kids struggling with self-perception and confidence through a similar character.

Eight to 12-year-olds are starting to deal with where they fit into the world, complicated friendships, and standing up for themselves, she said.

While the setting is fantastical, the main character Raine is a lonely kid suffering from low self-esteem who wants to find her place in the world and understand who she is.

If kids can see a character in a work of fiction that is like them, that can really help kids feel more confident in themselves and less alone.

Ms Greville said she first got the idea for the book close to 20 years ago after she had a vivid dream and has continued to work on it throughout the years.

Its been a real labour of love and this book is kind of like an ode to my family, she said.

It has been 20 years in the making. Its quite a great sense of achievement now that it is finally out in the world, and very exciting.

I hope that kids get the message, which is that you are enough, there is a place for you in the world, continue on with your journey, and be confident in yourself.

The post New book is helping kids battle loneliness appeared first on Ocean Grove Voice.

Bellarine community groups looking after marine and coastal environments welcomed a funding boost from the state government.

Member for Bellarine Alison Marchant announced the successful applicants of the 2023 Combined Coastal Grant, Port Phillip Bay Fund, and Coastcare Community Grant programs.

Victorias precious coastline is already being impacted by climate change and these grants will help us prepare for future challenges, Ms Marchant said.

We are fortunate to have so many dedicated volunteers and not-for-profit groups that are working hard to preserve our marine and coastal environments.

Bellarine Bayside Foreshore Committee of Management shared the $1.6-million Port Phillip Bay Fund with Bellarine North Rotary Club and the Jane Goodall Institute Australia to protect Port Phillip Bay.

Bellarine Bayside Foreshore Committee of Management received $50,000 for their Northern Bellarine Climate Change Coastal Adaptation Plan as part of the $1.7-million Combined Coastal Grants.

Borough of Queenscliffe Mayor Isabelle Thomas said she welcomed $40,000 from the Combined Coastal Grants for the Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale Cliff Stability and Beach Health Study.

It will enable council to gain a deeper understanding of the current coastal risk hazards, and the interventions available to mitigate or reduce the impacts to our coastline and community, she said.

As part of the more than $50,000 Coastcare Community Grant funding, Friends of the Red-Capped Plover Bellarine received $9,966 for increased awareness of sustainable beach behaviour at breeding sites.

Bellarine Bayside Foreshore Committee of Management received $9,920 towards building on the community red-capped plover monitoring program established in 2017.

Clifton Springs Curlewis Coastcare Group Inc received $9,600 to update the Clifton Springs Curlewis Information Booklet to increase marine environment knowledge and understanding.

Friends of Edwards Point Reserve Incs exotic weed removal project and Southern Ocean Environmental Links volunteer program both also received $10,000 in funding.

The post Grants awarded for the Bellarine appeared first on Ocean Grove Voice.

Deakin Universitys Marine Science Centre continues supporting new climate change and ocean health research thanks to a $3.5 million upgrade.

The state government invested $1 million through the Victorian Higher Education State Investment Fund (VHESIF) along with Deakins $2.5 million contribution to the project.

Improvements included two new seawater aquarium rooms, a refurbished tank area, and a high-performance computing lab for the experimental learning of Bachelor of Marine Science students.

Deakin Marine Research and Innovation Centre director Professor John Donald said he was very proud of the universitys internationally renowned marine research scientists.

They are addressing important issues such as ocean warming, fish growth, kelp restoration and plastics pollution, which significantly impact ocean health, he said.

The new facilities at Queenscliff will increase the quality and quantity of our research to benefit the region and Australia and train the next generation of ocean scientists.

We are excited to provide our undergraduate students with rooms and equipment that deliver the best hands-on educational experience and practical skills for marine, environmental or conservation sciences careers.

Works on the centre began in January 2022, with the projects final stage of installing a high-speed AARNET cable for ocean modelling research computing capability due to be delivered in November.

The VHESIF program is a significant investment in Deakin research, with $133 million from Deakin University and the state government helping support eleven major projects across five locations.

The school conducts research on the impact of ocean warming, increased temperatures on fish physiology, threatened kelp ecosystem restoration tools, and oceanographic modelling.

With a long-standing partnership with the Victorian Fisheries Authority, Deakin collaborates on regional research projects.

These projects include resolving biological connections among southern ocean crab fisheries and the Corner Inlet Rock Flathead stock structure.

More information on Deakin Universitys Queenscliff Marine Science Centre project is available at deakin.au/QMSC

The post Deakin continues marine works appeared first on Ocean Grove Voice.

Ocean Grove Primary School (OGPS) has completed the first phase of its Rekindling the Wadawurrung Spirit in Ocean Grove project, transforming its entrance gates with a creation story mural.

The project, implemented in consultation with the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, has seen Wadawurrung artist Billy-Jay OToole lead OGPS students in the painting of the work.

The team of 14 students included First Nation students, Inclusion and Wellbeing Leaders, Cultural Ambassadors, Indigenous Leaders and Visual Arts Captains.

Supported by a $29,100 from the City of Greater Geelongs First Nations Cultural Heritage Grant program, the project aims to help restore the cultural narrative of the region through actively promoting Wadawurrung People and Country as well as the broader First Nations Community.

The Rekindling the Wadawurrung Spirit in Ocean Grove project will now enter its second phase, which will include more artworks and signage using Wadawurrung language for the schools new inclusion playground.

OGPS visual arts teacher Jo Chapman said the school was proud of the project as part of its continuing role in highlighting the need for reconciliation.

We are looking forward to strengthening relationships with the First Nations community, expanding First Nation students connection to Country and developing the leadership skills of our Cultural and Arts Captains, she said.

The project will also increase school and community education and continue us on the pathway to becoming a leader in our community in promoting and fostering reconciliation.

The post OGPS rekindling Wadawurrung spirit appeared first on Ocean Grove Voice.

Teen bowls duo Maddie Jacobs and Maya Rees will strive for gold after being selected as part of a five-player Victorian team for the Under 18 Nationals in October.

The talented pair, who have spearheaded the Geelong Regions Geelong Giants Under 18 team for the last four years, earned selection after a successful tri series in July against Queensland and New South Wales.

Ocean Grove Bowling Clubs Jacobs and Drysdales Rees were part of the eight-player Victorian girls team that won the overall event.

The eight players were then reduced to five in what would have been a very difficult selection given the results from the tri series. Five under 18 boys were also selected.

Rees, at only 15 years old, will skip the triples and the fours combinations with Jacobs, 17, playing lead in the fours and lead in the pairs with Berwicks Amity Bickley.

The Victorian team will be under the guidance of Victorian State Under 18 Coach and Ocean Groves GM of Bowls Development Matt Flapper.

The selection for the final five was tough, both Maddie and Maya performed to a high standard, both have achieved terrific results this season to justify their selections, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Flapper said.

I am looking forward to watching them both shine on the big stage.

Both girls will prepare for the Nationals in October with a short trip to compete in the Under 18 Gold Nugget Singles on July 29 and 30 at Tweed Heads while Jacobs has also been selected in the School Sports Victoria team which will also compete in Tweed Heads in September.

Rees won a state silver medal in the girls triples in Bendigo earlier this year.

Jacobs won the Victorian Under 18 Girls Pairs late last year alongside Chloe Scherger from Fitzroy Victoria Bowling & Sports Club.

Jacobs and Rees are further proof that more young people are taking up lawn bowls.

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