01/09/2026
🛶🌊 THE STINGRAYS HAVE SPOKEN! 🏆 🌊🛶
The Conjola Stingrays recently held our AGM, which means we managed to get a bunch of paddlers in the same place, keep them relatively quiet for a few minutes, and even hand out some awards! 😂
This year we were excited to introduce two brand new perpetual awards — Paddler of the Year and Club Person of the Year — and we think the inaugural winners are very deserving!
🏆 PADDLER OF THE YEAR – STEVE SPENCER
Steve has had an absolute cracker of a year on the water and has come leaps and bounds since he first started paddling.
Steve recorded the highest training attendance of all our paddlers and only missed ONE regatta for the entire season. And even then, he decided that wasn't acceptable and travelled all the way to Coffs Harbour to race at Nationals as part of a Newcastle Outrigger Canoe Club crew.
Over winter, Steve has also been competing in the Far South Coast Paddlers series, narrowly missing out on 3rd place by just ONE POINT and picking up a well-deserved Paddler's Encouragement Award.
The best part of Steve's paddling journey? He went from not even knowing what an outrigger canoe was to somehow ending up with four OC1s and an OC2 in his backyard! 🤣
And because apparently sleeping is overrated, Steve regularly hits the water in the dark to get a session in before the kids wake up.
The Paddler of the Year is selected by our coaches, who recognised Steve's positive attitude, commitment to improving and willingness to listen to feedback and work on his technique.
Congratulations Steve! 👏
From "What's an outrigger?" to owning half a fleet — what a year! 🛶😂
🌟 CLUB PERSON OF THE YEAR – KYLIE YOUNG
And the inaugural Club Person of the Year goes to... Kylie Young! 🎉
As Coach, Kylie somehow managed to achieve the highest training attendance rate in the club — even beating Steve! (Sorry Steve, we know that one hurts. 😂)
But Kylie's contribution doesn't stop when the paddles are put away. She spends countless hours behind the scenes keeping the Stingrays moving — and we're not entirely sure when she finds time to sleep.
Grants? ✅ Grant acquttals? ✅ Canoe and gear purchases? ✅ Social media? ✅ Rigging canoes? ✅ Organising regatta logistics? ✅ Registrar ✅ Mowing lawns? ✅ Fixing, organising, chasing, planning and generally making things happen? Absolutely.
There's a huge amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to keep our little club running, and much of it goes unnoticed. Kylie quietly gets stuck into all of it — usually while telling everyone else what time they need to be somewhere! 😉
A very well-deserved congratulations to Kylie and a massive THANK YOU for everything she does for the Stingrays. ❤️
👏 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AWARD – ANGIE JENKINS & SIMON KATZ
We also presented an Acknowledgement Award to Angie Jenkins and Simon Katz, two of our founding members and people who have been there helping the Stingrays from the very beginning.
Between them, Angie and Simon have worn plenty of hats over the years — including taking on important Committee roles as Secretary and President, as well as putting in countless hours behind the scenes to help build and grow the club.
They've put their hands up for fundraising, grant applications and all the other jobs that somehow appear when you're trying to run a community club.
And if something needed building, fixing or storing... well, Angie and Simon were often the people to call!
🔨 Canoe trolley needed? Simon built one.
📝 Grant work needed? Angie was on it.
🏆 Committee work? Yep — Secretary and President duties covered.
🛶 Some spare, absolutely enormous canoe component that nobody knows where to put? No problem... just put it in Simon and Angie's shed! 😂
We're fairly sure their shed has, at various times, contained enough random outrigger equipment to qualify as an unofficial Stingrays warehouse. 🤣
A huge THANK YOU Angie and Simon — for your time, your effort, your knowledge and your generosity❤️
💙 A HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS & SUPPORTERS 💙
Of course, none of what we do would be possible without the amazing support we receive from our sponsors and funding partners.
A massive THANK YOU to Community Bank South Coast for their continued support of the Conjola Stingrays and for helping us purchase equipment that has made such a difference to our club and our paddlers. Your support helps us continue to grow, get more people on the water and keep our members paddling safely. 🛶🌊
We'd also like to give a huge shout-out to Veolia Mulwaree Trust for their generous support of our club. Your contribution has helped us invest in our equipment and facilities and will have a lasting benefit for our members and the wider paddling community.
We are incredibly grateful to both organisations for believing in what our little club is doing and for supporting our members, our racing and our continued growth. Thank you for backing the Stingrays! ❤️🛶
Finally, a big THANK YOU to our outgoing Committee for everything they contributed throughout the 2025–26 season.
We also welcomed our new Committee for the 2026–27 season — fresh faces, fresh ideas and, no doubt, plenty of jobs! 😂
A huge thank you to everyone who makes the Conjola Stingrays what we are — whether you're paddling, coaching, organising, fundraising, mowing, towing, fixing, rigging, cheering from the shore or just turning up for the laughs.
We couldn't do it without you. ❤️
Here's to another year of paddling hard, racing hard, laughing harder and pretending we're not sore the next day!
🛶🌊 BRING ON THE 2026–27 SEASON! 🌊🛶
