Sporting stars to shine

LOTS of glitter and gold will be on show at Friday night’s 60th Bendigo Sports Star of the Year awards.

The Diamond Jubilee of the awards will celebrate the superb performances of 2025 and much more.

Many previous winners of the prestigious honour will be at the All Seasons in Bendigo to see just who takes gold.

The rich diversity of sport in the region is shown by a field of 13 finalists selected from 10 sports.

The scholarship recipients are in the running for the Maxine Crouch and Cyril Michelsen Trust Funds, and also the La Trobe University-sponsored “Stay Near, Go Far” award.

Hawthorn and Sandhurst football club legend Graham Arthur will be inducted into the Basil Ashman Hall of Fame.

The Faith Leech Inspiration, John Forbes Coach/Manager, Community Minded, Young Indigenous Athlete, and Healthy School are awards are highly sought-after.

February

Blake Agnoletto cycling

Blake powered his way into another Sports Star of the Year race by winning the Melbourne to Warrnambool road classic. Blake won the 266km race in six hours, 19.29 minutes. The ‘Warrny’ is the longest one-day road race in the world. He was part of Australia’s successful run to win gold in the teams pursuit on the track at the UCI Nations Cup in Konya, Turkiye. A lot of Blake’s year was spent racing across Europe and Asia with Euqipe continentale Groupama FDJ. Blake earnt silver in the teams pursuit at the UCI world track championships in Chile in October.

March

Bendigo Spirit, basketball, and Alessia McCaig, basketball

Bendigo Spirit was crowned Cygnett Women’s National Basketball League champions for a third time after a 63-55 victory in game two of the grand final series played on Townsville Fire’s court. The Kennedy Kereama-coached Spirit scored a six-point win in the series opener on its court at Bendigo’s Red Energy Arena. Highs for Spirit included guard Sami Whitcomb earning the Suzy Batkovic Medal as league Most Valuable Player and selection in the All-WNBL First Team. The Second Team included Spirit teammates Veronica Burton and Kelsey Griffin. The Sixth Woman of the Year award was presented to Spirit forward Abbey Wehrung.

Alessia was a dominant force at Cycling Australia’s national track championships in Brisbane. She marked a hat-trick of victories in the keirin and also struck gold in the elite women’s sprint. Her campaign at Anna Meares Velodrome included silver in the 1km time trial and bronze in women’s team sprint. Alessia marked consecutive UCI world track titles by again claiming bronze in the team sprint in an Australian record time. Australia’s female track cyclist of the year for 2025, Alessia is aiming to race at this year’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the world titles in Shanghai.

April

Dyson Daniels basketball

Dyson capped a remarkable first season with Atlanta Hawks by earning the NBA’s Most Improved Player award. He was the first Australian to earn the title. Dyson’s brilliant defence earnt second place in the running for the defensive player of the year award. The Hawks’ guard led the NBA on 229 steals and averaged 13.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists across 77 regular season matches. He was the first player in more than three decades to achieve 200-plus steals and 50 blocks in a season. In October he signed a four-year contract extension with Atlanta.