Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Justice, Customs and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to congratulate members of the Perth Metro North Little League baseball charter who have recently captured their first Little League national championship for Western Australia since its inception in 2008. This team of talented 11- and 12-year-olds are the best players selected from three clubs: Wanneroo Giants, North Coast Ball Club and, from my electorate of Stirling, the Carine Cats. The team will now go on to Taichung, Taiwan, to represent Australia in the Asia-Pacific Little League Championships in July. The boys will be given the opportunity to play in front of crowds of up to 10,000 people, which is an exciting prospect for the young players. The winner of this tournament will go on to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in the United States, in August.

It is great to see the dedication and commitment by these young players to their sport. Despite normally playing for different clubs in the regular season, the boys have put aside their on-field competitiveness and have instead become great friends and team mates. I am sure that it is this new bond that has helped them to achieve such great success. I would like to acknowledge the hard work of the team's coach, Murray Kempton, and assistant coaches, Dean White and Alex Zahradnik, and all the boys' parents, who have supported and encouraged their children to lead a healthy and active lifestyle.

The Carine Cats are the largest single T-ball club in Western Australia and have had an enormously successful season across all age groups. They also had several other wins in their baseball and softball competitions. Congratulations to the 2012 Australian Little League National Championship team of Byron, Gyles, Connor, Max, Jed, Lincoln, Axel, Orlando, Mark, Tama, Jackson, Dawson, Zak and Chad. I wish them all the best for their trip to Taiwan and look forward to hearing of their future successes.

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate four students from my electorate who were awarded the 2011 Australian Student Prize in recognition of their academic excellence. Ryan Huynh, of Yokine; Clark Mei, of Woodlands; Angel Yu, of Innaloo; and Ellis Xanthis, of Carine, were each awarded the prestigious certificate and received the $2,000 prize to put towards their future academic aspirations. I believe it is important also to recognise the children's schools, which continue to provide a high level of education: Perth Modern School, Hale School and Christ Church Grammar School.

The prestigious award is given to the top 500 students in the country each year, and so all four young people should be very proud of this enormous achievement. The Australian Student Prize recognises the hard work, dedication and determination that these young students have put into their studies. I wish them all the very best with their future academic ambitions.