Socceroos Pick Up Major Awards

The Socceroos have picked up two awards at last nights Australian Sports Awards gala dinner last night.

The Socceroos have picked up two awards at last nights Australian Sports Awards gala dinner last night.

They won the Australian Sporting Moment of the Year, a new Award decided by the Australian public and International Team of the Year award. Their World Cup Qualifier won over nine other memorable Australian sporting moments of 2005 in a land slide victory with over 90% of the votes. This was soon followed by gold for International Team of the Year over the Kookaburras and the Australian World Road Championships Team.

"It is a tremendous privilege for the Socceroos to be honoured at the Australian Sport Awards and is something in which the players, the FFA, and indeed all Australian sports fans can take great pride," said Football Federation Australia Chief Executive John O'Neill.

"The Socceroos are truly representative of Australian society and have proven themselves to be wonderful ambassadors both on and off the field.

SBS also received the Sports Media Award for its coverage of the World Cup qualifier against Uruguay.

It was a night of triumph for Australia-s, Grant Hackett, with the swimming sensation creating Awards history as the first athlete to take out Male Athlete of the Year and the Dawn Fraser Award.

The Dawn Fraser Award, presented personally by the Australian swimming legend, was presented to Grant for his achievement internationally as well as his contribution to the sport of swimming and the Australian community.

It was a great night all-round for the sport of swimming with world record holder Leisel Jones also taking out the female-s top honours, Female Athlete of the Year, and team mate Lisbeth Lenton winning the Young Female Athlete of the Year.

But Hackett was not the night-s only double gold, with the Sydney Swans taking away both National Team of the Year Award and Coach of the Year.

The Australian Sport Awards are conducted by the nation-s peak body for sport, the Confederation of Australian Sport, and are the premier Awards for sport in Australia.

“I think the key to the Australian Sport Awards is that it recognises all individuals regardless of which sport they come from”, said Michael Sparks, President of the Confederation of Australian Sport.

“Whether they are from major individual and team sports or the lower profile sports, everyone has the opportunity to be recognised for their performance.”

In fact, the Australian Sport Awards are the only Awards in the country that cover all sports and all areas of the sports sector, from athletes and coaches to administrators, sports businesses, IT providers and sports tourism. 

WINNERS 

Business Innovation Award Access Dinghy Sailing Systems Pty Ltd SKUD18 (VIC) Coach of the Year Paul Roos Football (AFL) Executive of the Year David Gallop Rugby League Female Athlete of the Year Leisel Jones Swimming Information Technology Award Deaf Sports Australia Deaf Sports International Team of the Year Australian Men-s Football Team Football (Soccer) Male Athlete of the Year Grant Hackett Swimming Masters Athlete of the Year Peter Barnard Cycling Masters Team of the Year Men-s 55 Track Relay Team Athletics National Team of the Year Sydney Swans Football (AFL) Official of the Year Bill Mildenhall Basketball Sports Media Award SBS coverage of World Cup Qualifier Football (Soccer) Sports Person of the Year with a Disability Chris Scott OAM Cycling Sports Tourism Award Jacob-s Creek Tour Down Under Young Australian Female Athlete of the Year Lisbeth Lenton Swimming Young Australian Male Athlete of the Year Chris Noffke Athletics Young Australian Team of the Year Australian Junior Men-s Downhill Team Downhill Mountain Bike