THE Illawarra Academy of Sport is celebrating its 30th year of supporting our region's rising sporting stars on Friday, July 3, at the Novotel Wollongong Northbeach.
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The academy will bring together athletes, coaches, directors, sponsors, partners and stakeholders, past and present, to celebrate this significant milestone for Australia's pioneer regional academy.
IAS graduates Sally Fitzgibbons, David and Emma McKeon, Shaun Timmins, Madeline Heiner and Zoe Uphill will be part of the milestone celebrations.
Meanwhile, IAS AWD athlete Zac Jones and the Pararoos have been beaten by Portugal in a penalty-shootout to finish the 2015 Cerebral Palsy Football World Championships in 12th.
The Pararoos had a mixed tournament with a 2-0 win over Portugal, a 4-1 loss to Ireland and a 5-0 loss to the eventual winners Russia in the group stage.
In the positional playoffs they suffered a 6-0 loss to Scotland which created the final round rematch with Portugal for 11th and 12th position.
The Pararoos were on the back foot early on as they fell behind inside seven minutes, when Portugal's captain Vitor Vilarinho hit a powerful shot from distance which Christopher Barty could only parry, with Hugo Pinheiro volleying in the rebound.
It took just three minutes for the Pararoos to draw level as a foul in the box allowed Christopher Pyne to slot home a penalty.
Despite Portugal having a player sent off in the second half, the Pararoos were unable to take advantage of the numerical advantage as the match finished 1-all after extra-time.
Portuguese keeper Rui Rocha proved the hero, saving opposite number Barty's spot-kick to hand the Europeans the win 4-3 on penalties.