ORANGE pistol shooting phenom Dave Oates doubled up at Tuesday night’s Orange Credit Union Sports Awards - Oates took out the top gong, and was a member of Orange and District Pistol Club’s (ODPC) Team of the Year award winners.
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Wallabies’ forwards Rob Simmons and James Slipper were special guests at the awards, presented to Orange’s best and brightest athletes of 2013.
Oates took out the Sportsperson of the Year award ahead of six other finalists - all of whom were selected to represent Australia 2013 - thanks largely to several world, national and state pistol shooting titles.
Representing Australia, Oates won a WA1500 World Championship in the Team Pistol division alongside Tamworth’s Don Pollard, and silver in the Individual Revolver.
Oates represented NSW alongside fellow finalist Dean Brus and Pollard, and the trio brought home three gold medals and one silver from the Australian National Championships.
Oates also won four medals, including one gold, individually at the national championships.
Finally, Oates won three NSW State Championships, and two ACT State Championships in 2013.
Hockey wunderkind Madie Smith was a runaway winner for the Junior Sportsperson of the Year gong, representing Australia on several occasions in 2013.
The teenager donned green and gold for Australia’s under 16 All Schools team and under 18 Futures Squad.
She was also a member of NSW’s undefeated Australian under 18 Championship-winning team and the gold medal-winning NSW Combined High Schools (CHS) team, from which she was named in the NSW All Schools side.
Smith represented Western CHS, and also earned a 2014 Tier 2 NSW Institute of Sport scholarship and was named in the 2014 NSW under 21 squad.
Success at the WA1500 World Club Championships ensured the ODPC snared the Team of the Year award.
The side was made up of Oates and Brus in the High Master grade, and Max Wicks and Peter Brus in the Master grade.
The Master pair won the Revolver division, while the High Masters combination earned silver in the Pistol and revolver categories.
Edwina Bone was also inducted into the Orange Sporting Hall of Fame following her Commonwealth Games gold medal with the Hockeyroos.