By Nicole Gismondo (W’SUP Editor 16/17)
Pictured: HAC Rugby (Tully MacPherson Left, Taylor Alcock Right) took home Best Student Club Overall, as the big winners for the night (note: this is them desperately trying to carry all their awards at once!)
What a night of celebrating the burgeoning contributors to campus life at Western Sydney University. Without these people’s blood, sweat and tears we wouldn’t have a place for students to feel engaged, gain friends or find ‘home’ and that is incredibly important. And although we were all keen for the since cancelled cruise element of the evening, we all had a great night at Parramatta Campus (the night returning to its spiritual home, The Hub).
MC for the night was Robert Barrie, who started out with Debating in 2012 and has been a stalwart of the clubs’ scene since. Just as he said, everything said “[was] just the tip of the iceberg,” with so many contributing to campus life each year. It’s a sad thought that we may not see him next year, but we assure you he went out with a bang!
Before we get onto the winners though, let’s have a look at the big winners for the night, claiming multiple awards in different categories. The honours for the night went to Nerdfighters notching up an impressive 4 awards including 2 runners up and 2 wins. HAC Rugby took it to them though, outright winning all their 3 categories, including Best Overall Student Club. An honourable mention goes to MSA Campbelltown for amassing 2 runners up and one win (unfortunately they didn’t make an appearance, the only winner not to do so).
Best Campus Clubs
Celebrating the clubs that had a great year, commiserations to the other nominees in each category, we all appreciate the work you did too, but there can only be two winners…
Bankstown
Runner up: Indigenous Student Council
Winner: Student Policing Association
Campbelltown
Runner up: MSA Campbelltown
Winner: Rotaract
Hawkesbury (Can you tell HACs pretty popular out on the farm?)
Runner up: HAC Men’s Football
Winner: HAC Rugby
Parramatta
Runner up: Women’s Collective
Winner: Dare to Know (also collecting a VC award on the same day)
Penrith (this is a rivalry for the ages, we promise you)
Runner up: Team Taekwondo
Winner: Nerdfighters
Sport Awards
A brand-new category was introduced this year, to cater for our growing intervarsity sport enthusiasts. In an interesting twist, both individual awards went to Basketball, and no individuals were nominated in the group/individual categories. Congratulations to all winners, boy could we hear you cheer!
Contribution to Sport – Male: David Hayman (Basketball)
Contribution to Sport – Female: Ivana Drakulic (Basketball)
Performance of the Year – Team/Individual: Team Taekwondo (AUGs)
Western Sydney University Pride Award – Team/Individual: Men’s Rugby 7s (AUGs)
Major Awards
Best Club Event:
Runner Up: Nerdfighters Game Hard or Go Home (24hr Gaming Marathon)
Winner: MSA Campbelltown Islamic Awareness Week
Such great events! Though the true winner is those who got to enjoy them! Seriously though, these were two of the longest events all year. The Nerdfighers *really* slept over (or became zombies) at Werrington’s The Cottage! The MSA on the other hand co-ordinated a week chock full of guest speakers, food and more to celebrate their faith and invite all of Campbelltown to join in on the fun!
Best Fundraising Club
Runner up: MSA Campbelltown
Winner: HAC Rugby
The real winner of this category though, are the charities! The MSA took on raising funds for wheelchairs this year, raising around $4000, while HAC Rugby’s support was directed a little closer to home, raising $5500 the Nepean Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Parent’s Support Charity. Honourable mention to the Nerdfighters raising $2016.40 (they didn’t plan it) for the Starlight Children’s Foundation, and Rotaract for raising $3500 for their various charities.
Best New Club
Runner up: Indigenous Student Council (ISC)
Winner: Parramatta Music Club (PMC)
This award is exciting for all the right reasons, it celebrates those who are up and coming, and these two are outright stars in the category. PMC is even looking for a permanent performance space, while the ISC is looking at expanding to all campuses to be a voice for Indigenous students!
Joint Best Club Leader
Marija Yelavich (DTK) – Leader (Nerdfighters)
It’s been a long time coming for both these leaders, Marija struggling for words, and the Leader of the Nerdfighters having her loving club members accept the award on her behalf. Both incredibly deserving, hardworking and dedicated student club leaders in 2016 and before.
Best Overall Student Club
Runner up: Nerdfighters
Winner: HAC Rugby
In their 125th year (they are old, right?) as a club, it seemed it was HAC Rugby’s year. However, the Nerdfighters have already vowed to beat HAC Rugby next year, with a game of ‘chest’ on the cards.
On behalf of the 2016 W’SUP editors, we have loved bringing you as much excitement as we could from each of these clubs this year, and hope that clubs can feature more next year!
So long, farewell, and remember, as Robert Barrie said, we can be glad that “we don’t have to fill out any more OrgSync forms this year!”
Editors Note: Nicole accepted awards on behalf of Nerdfighters and the Women’s Collective
