The 2016 PS4 National Premier Leagues Gala Dinner took centre stage at Rosehill Gardens on Friday 9th of September as players, coaches, officials as well as a number of high profile guests attended what was a fantastic evening acknowledging the achievements from the PlayStation4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s, Men’s 2, Men’s 3, Women’s and Women’s 2 seasons.
It was a fantastic season for both males and females as they got together in a monumental evening where over 550 guests attending for the code in NSW which was proudly presented by well-known sports presenter Stephanie Brantz .
There were a number of special guests which included NSW Sport and Recreation CEO Matt Miller, Sydney FC CEO Tony Pignata, FFA Technical Director Eric Abrams, FFA’s Head of Community and Women’s Football Emma Highwood, along with the Football NSW Board.
The first major awards that kicked off the evening was the announcement of the Player of the Year and Golden Boot winners in the Under 20/Reserve grade competitions.
Hills Brumbies Nikolas Dimitriadis took out the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 3 category while Hannah McNutty from the Northern Tigers took out the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 Reserve Grade accolade. Marconi Stallions’ Yasser Al-Taay then grabbed the honours of being crowned the best PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 U20s player.
The night shifted to goals for the promising youngsters and it was that man again Dimitriadis who added to his trophy collection with a Golden Boot award shared with Rydalmere Lions’ Mortaza Safdari, both scoring 14 goals for the year. Northern Tigers’ Claire O’Sullivan was her competitions top scorer finishing with 10 goals while Samantha Nagy from the Blacktown Spartans propped up with the award in the PS4 NPL NSW top tier Women’s competition. APIA Leichhardt Tigers’ Duncan Stewart was a man possessed in front of goal as the ace marksman bagged 21 goals in the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s U20 season.
Fair Play and Club Championship awards were then presented next before the Media Award was presented by Football NSW Media Manager Mark Stavroulakis.
It was the Fairfield Champion that were rewarded for its outstanding services to the men’s and women’s game with Chief Sports Writer Chris Boulos grabbing the plaudits for his continual promotion of the round ball game in Sydney’s West.
Following on from the Media Award, referees were next honoured with Kelly Jones being awarded the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s Referee of the Year award for her outstanding season. In the men’s category, referee Kris Griffiths-Jones took out the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s Referee of the Year for a solid year as determined by the weekly assessment of referees throughout the season combined with considerations from the Technical Committee of the Independent NSW State League Football Referees Branch.
The announcement of the 2016 Charles Valentine Medal was up next and this was taken out by well-known football figure Dane Sim from the Blacktown Spartans.
Dane came into football via the Doonside Hawks Soccer Club when his son Joshua joined in 1994, like most football dads his coaching career commenced the very next season. In 1995 Dane also was elected to the Doonside Management Committee, where the following year he became the Club Secretary, a position he held until 2004.
During 2000 and 2001, Dane also dual rolled as the Club Treasurer and continued this role until he retired from Club football in 2006 to concentrate on Representative Football.
Sim’s Association career had commenced in 1999, when Dane became the Manager of the BDSFA Inc Under 11 Metropolitan League team and continues that role, alternating with the Under 12’s, up to the present date.
Recognised for his constant efforts with the Metro League, Dane was invited to take up the position of Vice President of the Blacktown & District Soccer Football Association Inc in 2002.
The Vice Presidents role, amongst others, is to manage the Representative arm of the BDSFA. Dane held this position until 2010.
Dane was awarded Football NSW State Award in 2007 for his commitment.
In 2011 Dane became President of the Board of BDSFA which he holds until the present date.
So, since 1994, Dane has acquitted numerous high level management, roles for both club and association whilst trying to fit in a very busy executive career with the insurance industry.
Dane’s business acumen has nurtured the financial aspects of his contribution to football both at club and association level. His constant “hands on” approach to management has brought great benefits to all levels to which he has dedicated himself.
One of the highest awards that can be bestowed upon a person involved in representative football, Dane lives and breathes the round ball game.
The PS4 NPL Rookie of the Year awards were up next and this was a chance to provide players the opportunity to be identified and progress in their football careers.
This award was introduced to further recognise and reward the talented Players in the PS4 NPL and provide an opportunity for those Players that have not yet been identified or been overlooked by Hyundai A-League Clubs.
This honour fell to Duncan Stewart who bagged his second trophy for the evening for an outstanding year with the APIA Leichhardt Tigers in the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 20 category.
Ariane Dimitrou collected the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s Reserve Grade award for her huge year with Sydney University.
Goalkeepers were next on the awards block and it was James Webb from the Stanmore Hawks who bagged the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 3 award. Sydney Olympic’s Amanda Seskin was the standout in the PS4 NPL NSW Wome’s 2 category. PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 shot stopper Dion Shaw from Bankstown City FC had a fantastic year under the sticks and grabbed the award while Football NSW Institute’s talented young gun Jada Mathyssen-Whyman took out the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s category for the second successive year. Sydney Olympic’s number one keeper Paul Henderson grabbed all the glory for the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s category claiming the title of being the number one keeper in the competition. It proved that age is just a number as the 40-year-old once again turned back the clock putting through some outstanding performances for the Blues.
The remaining Golden Boot award winners were announced soon after and the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 3 honour went to Hills Brumbies Peter Cejka who scored a mammoth 32 goals in what was a wonderful year for the ace marksman and the club who took out the competition’s Premiership.
Inter Lions’ sharpshooter Sarah Mandile took out the award with 13 goals in the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 category while in the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 category, Sydney FC’s rising young gun Charles Lokolingoy won the award up after notching up 25 goals for the year.
The ‘Debbie Tait’ Award for the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s Golden Boot was awarded to North West Sydney Koalas’ Tara Andrews who scored 26 goals for the year. This award is in honour of Debbie Tait who sadly lost her fight with leukaemia on December 17, 1997. She was aged just nineteen. During her short lifetime, Debbie touched the lives of many people with her easy going, bright and cheery personality. Debbie loved her football and was a player of great talent. She achieved so much in so little time.
Finally, in the PS4 NPL Men’s category, it was Sydney United 58’s Chris Payne who scored 22 goals, as the ace marksman proved a handful for rival defenders in NSW’s top tier competition.
It was onto the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s ‘Goal of the Year’ award and after 22 rounds there was only once clear winner. In what was a stunning year for goals it was Manly United’s Richie Cardozo that won the award with his cracking bicycle kick that went viral against the Wollongong Wolves in round 17 of the competition.
The Coach of the Year category was next and in the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 category, Sutherland Shire Football’s Michael McGovern clinched this award for the second successive season for his services this year.
Stanmore Hawks’ Tony Panteli was rewarded for his efforts with the squad after taking charge half way through the year in PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 3 competition and was given the honours of Coach of the Year as voted by his fellow peers.
Sydney FC’s Robbie Stanton bagged himself the big one in the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 for steering his club to the Premiership while the Emerging Jets’ Ashley Willson grabbed the plaudits for being the number one coach in the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s competition. Manly United’s Paul Dee claimed the award for the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s competition after pushing the Northern Beaches club to a finals series spot as well as guiding them through to the Waratah Cup final as well as the round of 32 in the Westfield FFA Cup.
The time had come for the Player of the Year awards in what was the crucial part of the evening as the suspense was at boiling point for all players involved.
Cejka again was rewarded for his outstanding season with the Hills Brumbies adding to his Golden Boot was the big Player of the Year award in the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 3 competition.
Inter Lions’ Kiralee Cook picked up the NPL NSW Women’s 2 Player of the year in what was a fantastic year for the female football star.
The PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 Player of the Year award was up next and Mounties Wanderers big attacker Matthew West grabbed the big award as selected by all the clubs in the competition. The star striker had a tremendous season for the Mounties and has no doubt won himself the eyes of the top tier Men’s clubs in potentially recruiting him for the new year.
Things were tight in the PS4 NPL NSW Women’s category and this showed as there were dual winners of the big award with Manly United’s Remy Siemsen and North West Sydney Koalas’ Tara Andrews both the talk of the evening, taking out the plaudits for as voted by their fellow peers.
The stage was set for the final award of the evening and that was the prestigious PS4 NPL NSW Men’s award for 2016.
After 22 rounds the award was presented to Manly United, and Wellington Phoenix bound left midfielder Adam Parkhouse who dazzled his way with a number of fantastic performances that earned him the reputation as being crowned the best player in NSW.
Parkhouse beat the likes of Blacktown City FC’s Danny Choi and Sydney United 58’s Panni Nikas for the big prize and was humbled to have won such an accolade.
“It’s a huge honour to have won such an award but I really put it down to my teammates and my coach Paul Dee who were part of this win for me.
“It was a good season for us all at Manly and I really enjoyed my time there with everyone.
“My goals are now to get as much game time as possible with the Wellington Phoenix and seeing where it takes me from there.”
2016 Premier Leagues Award Winners
Club Championship
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s – 18s – 1st Manly United
PS4 NSW Women’s – 17s – 1st Sydney University
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 – 18s – 1st Sydney FC
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 – 17s – 1st Northern Tigers
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 3 – 18s – 1st Hills Brumbies
Charles Valentine Medal
Dane Sim – Blacktown Spartans
Referee of the Year
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s – Kelly Jone
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s – Kris Griffiths-Jones
Media Award
Football NSW Media Award – Chris Boulos Fairfield Champion
Goalkeeper of the Year
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 3 – James Webb – Stanmore Hawks
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 – Amanda Seskin – Sydney Olympic
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 – Dion Shaw – Bankstown City FC
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s – Jada Mathyssen-Whyman – Football NSW Institute
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s – Paul Henderson – Sydney Olympic
Golden Boot Awards
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 3 U20s – Nikolas Dimitriadis-Hills Brumbies / Mortaza Safdari-Rydalmere Lions 14 goals
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 3 – Peter Cejka – Hills Brumbies 32 goals
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 Reserves – Ciara O’Sullivan – Northern Tigers 10 goals
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 – Sarah Mandile – Inter Lions 13 goals
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 20’s – Emmanuel Gonzalez – Sydney FC 27 goals
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 – Charles Lokolingoy – Sydney FC 25 goals
PS4 NSW Women’s Reserves – Samantha Nagy – Blacktown Spartans 8 goals
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s – Tara Andrews – NWS Koalas 26 goals
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 20’s – Duncan Stewart – APIA Leichhardt Tigers 21 goals
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s – Chris Payne – Sydney United 58 FC 22 goals
Coach of the Year
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 3 – Tony Panteli – Stanmore Hawks
PS4 NSW Women’s 2 – Michael McGovern – Sutherland Shire Football
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 – Robert Stanton – Sydney FC
PS4 NSW Women’s – Ashley Wilson – Emerging Jets
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s – Paul Dee – Manly United
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s Goal of the Year
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s – Richie Cardozo – Manly United
Player of the Year
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 3 – Peter Cejka – Hills Brumbies
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 Reserves – Hannah McNutty – Northern Tigers
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 20’s – Yasser Al-Taay – Marconi Stallions
PS4 NPL Women’s Reserves – Ariane Demetriou – Sydney University
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 20’s – Duncan Stewart – APIA Leichhardt Tigers
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s 2 – Kirilee Cook – Inter Lions
PS4 NPL NSW Women’s – Remy Siemsen/Manly United & Tara Andrews/NWS Koalas
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 – Matthew West – Mounties Wanderers
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s – Adam Parkhouse – Manly United
-Football NSW Media Release
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