Kiama siblings Miller (16) and Ginger Siasat (14) have been named among 12 South Coast recipients of the Albanese Labor Government’s Local Sporting Champions (LSC) grants program.The program provides financial support for young athletes to attend national and international championships. Both Miller and Ginger received funding earlier this year to compete at separate national events.Miller competed in sprint events at the Australian Track and Field Championships in Perth in April, while Ginger represented New South Wales at the Australian Schools and Juniors Rugby Championships on the Sunshine Coast in July.Federal Member for Gilmore Fiona Phillips congratulated the pair, calling them an inspiration to the local community.“The grants help young sportspeople and their families attend big events and represent our region, the state, or the country in their chosen field,” she said. “I’m so happy to support Miller and Ginger. They’re great kids who dedicate so much time and work extremely hard towards their sporting goals.”Although they competed in different sports, both siblings are talented all-rounders.Ginger and Miller regularly train and compete in the 80, 100, 200 and 400 metre track events. Both also play rugby and are active members of the Gerringong Surf Life Saving Club. Miller is a dual Australian Champion in both beach sprint and flags, while Ginger is a State Champion beach sprinter.When asked which sport she prefers, Ginger said she enjoys the team spirit of rugby.“With track, you’re on your own and just trying to beat your own times, so it can be isolating,” she said.“Rugby, being a team sport, is really social and you make great friends for life.”Miller added that he believes each sport he plays helps him improve in the others.“Athletics builds up the fundamentals for rugby,” he said. “Running has definitely helped me - to be good at rugby, you’ve got to be fast.”The LSC program provides grants of $500 to $750 to help cover travel, accommodation, uniforms and other competition-related expenses.Ms Phillips encouraged more local athletes, coaches and officials to apply for the next round of grants.“The Federal Labor Government doesn’t want financial barriers stopping local champions from representing their state or country,” she said. “I’d encourage anyone who has competed, or plans to compete, at a state, national or international level to apply before the next round closes on October 31.”Apply here: Local Sporting Champions | Australian Sports CommissionFull list of South Coast recipients:Aleah Farrugia - Australian Gymnastics ChampionshipsCoby Sheppeard - 2025 School Sport Australia Bowls ChampionshipAirlie Stevens - Australian Junior Athletics ChampionshipOskar Driscoll - 2025 School Sport Australia 13–19 Years Swimming ChampionshipAlisha Britta Mustapic - Australian Track and Field ChampionshipsMonty Lloyd Jones - School Sport Australia National Triathlon ChampionshipChristian Ireland - Asia Pacific Sprint Cup 2025 (Canoeing)Miller Siasat - Australian Track and Field ChampionshipsGinger Siasat - Australian Schools and Juniors Rugby ChampionshipsLily Todd - 2025 ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World ChampionshipsJack Nunn - American Motorcycling Association National Motocross ChampionshipCameron Donaldson (Match Official) - School Sport Australia Basketball Championship

Nearly 500 competitors took part in the second Kiama Triathlon for 2025 over the weekend, with many entrants using the event as a final warm-up for the World Championships in Wollongong later this month.Beginning and ending at the Minnamurra River, the Elite Energy Kiama Triathlon is quickly becoming one of the most loved events on the triathlon calendar.“It was a really great day. We had beautiful racing conditions, weather-wise. We had really great feedback and responses, and we're really happy with how the event went - and our athletes are too,” said Elite Energy marketing specialist Shinead Roulstone.“It’s just a great location, and we know that our athletes love racing in Kiama, so having two in one year just made sense.”The big winners of the day were James Davy and Kaylen Payer, who won the male and female standard race events respectively. Davy finished the 1.5km swim, 38km bike and 10km run in a time of 01:58:05, while Payer finished in 02:14:27.Kyle Mason (male) and Sophie Lampe (female) won the sprint races, while Glenn Norris (male) and Morgan Pike (female) took out the aquabike events.Photo: Brian ScottAlthough many local athletes took part, a significant number of competitors travelled from across Australia and even internationally, using the race as a tune-up for the World Championships.“All the athletes did spectacularly well,” said Roulstone. “And a lot of them were using the weekend’s event as a practice race for the World Champs happening from 15 to 19 October in Wollongong.”The event marked the third Kiama Triathlon in the space of two years, following a decade-long break, and Roulstone was thrilled to see the event continue to grow.“It was really successful for us and we're really happy to have been able to bring the athletes together again at such a beautiful location. We just love going there,” she said.“We're just really grateful for the support of the community, the council, our volunteers and of course our athletes - it’s all those people who make the events so popular and successful.”The 2025 World Triathlon Championships will take place in Wollongong from 15-19 October. Closer to home, the Huskisson Marathon and Triathlon is set for 1-2 November.

Their new import produced a stunning performance but the Illawarra Hawks’ NBL title defence got off to a shaky start on Saturday night with a 91-86 loss to Tasmania JackJumpers at WIN Entertainment Centre.Three-time NBA champion JaVale McGee recorded an eye-catching first appearance for the Hawks after the club raised just their second championship banner to the rafters following last season’s thrilling grand final victory over Melbourne United.McGee, who played 983 games in the NBA, is in the veteran stage of his career but the 37-year-old centre was easily Illawarra’s top contributor.He chalked up 32 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks while hitting 15 of his 20 field goal attempts.Standing at seven-feet tall with nearly two decades of professional experience, McGee boasts a decorated resume featuring championships with the Golden State Warriors (2017, 2018) and Los Angeles Lakers (2020), as well as a gold medal with Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Hawks coach Justin Tatum said his team had let down the fans who turned out en masse for the season opener."The effort definitely wasn't where I wanted it to be and we could have given a better effort on shutting down some of those offensive rebounds that they got," said Tatum."I felt that crowd deserved a better effort from us to find a way to get a win on banner drop tonight."Hawks guard Tyler Harvey backed up McGee with 19 points and six rebounds while veteran forward Todd Blanchfield chipped in with 12.Scores were tied at 21-21 after the first quarter before Tassie took a 49-45 lead into half-time.The JackJimpers led by 11 after a 20-16 run in the third quarter and even though the Hawks went on an 11-0 tear early in the final term, the visitors kept their noses in front down the stretch.Majok Deng tallied 14 points, four rebounds and two blocks with Bryce Hamilton (21 points), Tyger Campbell (17 points, four rebounds and four assists), and Josh Bannan (11 points and seven rebounds) rounding out a superb team performance.The Hawks face a tough test to get their first win of the season when they head west to take on the Wildcats in Perth on Thursday night before hauling themselves to Auckland for a Wednesday night clash with the New Zealand Breakers.They have racked up plenty of travel recently after playing at the FIBA Intercontinental Cup in Singapore where they finished fifth after ending the tournament with a 93-69 win over Japan’s Utsunomiya BrexIllawarra are back at the WIN Entertainment Centre next Saturday (11 October) when they host the Brisbane Bullets.

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This week's special edition of The Bugle is filled with a wide variety of local news and views from the local community.There is in-depth coverage of the biosecurity scare at Kiama Shopping Village on the weekend, a local table of kindness which is helping the community and an update on the Jamberoo sewer main saga.CLICK HERE TO READ THE DIGITAL EDITIONYou can also read plenty of other great community stories, including a rare fish that washed up on Werri Beach, the Gerringong Co-Op's funky disco and how Kiama made its presence felt at the Illawarra Business Awards.In sport, you can read about Kiama's grand final preparations in the Group 7, Sally Fitzgibbons making waves and our victory, the Knights getting through to the Group 7 decider and Kiama's victories on the hockey scene.In 2024, the Kiama Knights won just three games all season. A year later, they’re on the verge of claiming their first Group 7 Rugby League grand final victory since 2019.Knights coach Matt O’Brien is hopeful a strong crowd of Kiama supporters will be there to cheer both sides on at Centenary Field, Albion Park, on Sunday, with Kiama's reserve grade kicking off against the Stingrays of Shellharbour at 1.15pm and first grade against the Shellharbour Sharks at 3pm.