Some of the most talented athletes in the western suburbs will be vying for the prestigious 2025 Don Deeble Sports Star award next month.
The Deeble committee will reveal the name of this year’s champion athlete at an awards dinner on the last Wednesday in January.
The Don Deeble Sports Star Award is sponsored by the Yarraville Club Cricket Club, Strathmore Community Bank, the Deer Park Club, Ascot Vale Sports and Trophies and Star Weekly Newspapers.
The first nominee was Smrithi Adepu, a 14-year-old rising badminton star.
Last year alone, she became the Australian under-15 champion as she claimed gold in singles and mixed doubles, earned the Australian national under-17 silver medal in singles, and secured the prestigious Victorian Open women’s singles title.
She is already part of the Badminton Australia pathways squad, the Junior Falcons, and is focused on making the senior squad and competing in the Oceania Championships.
Western Jets star Thomas Burton was the March nominee.
Burton entered his AFL draft year with a resume most people can only dream about.
A member of the AFL Academy, he was later named co-captain of the Vic Metro side.
While Burton wasn’t drafted last month, he is currently training with Richmond with the hope of being added to the Tigers rookie list.
Young cricket star Jackson Martin was named the April nominee.
Martin burst onto the season when he debuted in Yarraville Club’s first XI as a 12-year-old.
He has continued to excel and made his Victorian Premier Cricket first XI debut this season while still able to play under-17s.
May nominee Kiara Boyd has a sporting career that only most can dream of.
Boyd is in Victorian underage programs for both netball and football.
At this stage she isn’t keen on making a choice of which sport she wants to focus on.
“I want to do my best and try and get as far as I can in both sports,” she said.
June nominee Louis Kaing is the youngest of the nominees for 2025.
At just 13, he is a two-time national and three-time state taekwondo champion.
After overcoming significant adversity, including being unable to compete for more than eight months, his passion and dedication to taekwondo drove an impressive return to competition.
July nominee Nicola Morris puts plenty of kilometres through her legs.
After deciding to start triathlons, Morris fell in love with cycling.
She was recently selected for the under-17 Australian track development team that went to Malaysia to train and compete in the YSD Track Series.
She is now part of the AusCycling Victorian Road Development Academy.
Another footballer was named the August nominee, Thomas McGuane.
McGuane has had a big name to live up to his whole life being the son of former Collingwood premiership star Mick McGuane.
Thomas has found his own way on the football field having grown up at Keilor Football Club.
September nominee Sam Simmonds started playing tennis as his brother did.
He quickly fell in love with the sport and has won a number of titles since.
“I am one of the most competitive people I know.”
October nominee Denise Chan didn’t quite have the 2025 she was after with a back injury.
The volleyball player represented Australia at under-16 level in Thailand before being stuck on the sidelines.
“The next thing I knew I was getting an email saying I’d made the under-16 Australian team to play in Thailand. I didn’t even know they were scouting for that team,” she said.
“While we didn’t reach the ultimate success in that competition it taught us all so much about the game and what it takes to be the best.”
The final nominee of the year Jobe Stewart has an underlying relentlessness.
Having started taekwondo when he was just eight, Stewart soon made inroads and in October he was chosen to represent Australia in his first World Taekwondo Championships in China.
He hopes to go to the Olympics following in the footsteps of his sister, Reba Stewart.
Ten elite young western suburbs athletes will be vying for the prestigious 2025 Don Deeble Sports Star award next month.
The Deeble committee will reveal the name of this year’s champion athlete at an awards dinner on the last Wednesday in January.
February
Name- Smrithi Adepu
School- Maribyrnong Sports Academy
Sport- Badminton
Achievements- Junior International tournament and part of the Badminton Australia pathways squad.
Quote- The Asian players train full-time, and their precision, skill, and attacking strength are on another level, and seeing them train puts a lot of things into perspective and motivates me to keep pushing harder to keep up with them.”
March
Name- Thomas Burton
Club- Western Jets/Point Cook Football Club
Sport- Football
Achievements- Named Vic Metro under-18 co-captain and captain of the Western Jets. Named in the AFL National Academy. Won Western Jets best and fairest.
Quote- “I feel that I must set the standards. I can see my younger teammates may be nervous or unsure, it’s my role to instill confidence in them.”
April
Name- Jackson Martin
School/Club- Maribyrnong Sports Academy/Essendon Cricket Club
Sport- Cricket
Achievements- Victorian Premier Cricket first XI debut, made Vic Metro under-17 team and bowled to the Australian cricket team in the nets.
Quote: “Bowling is my strength, but my batting is improving all the time.”
May
Name- Kiara Boyd
School/Club Maribyrnong Sports Academy/Western Jets/Western Warriors
Sport- Football/Netball
Achievements- Under-17 Victorian netball team and under-18 Vic Metro football side.
Quote- “My sporting goals are simple, I want to do my best and try and get as far as I can on both sports, and I don’t want to let people down,”
June
Name- Louis Kaing
Club- Convergence Combat Sports
Sport- Taekwondo
Achievements- 2025 World Cadet Championships, Australian Cadet Taekwondo team.
Quote- “My goal is to be the best I can be,” he said. “I will try hard every time I compete to ensure I get better results next time.”
July
Name- Nicola Morris
Club- Brunswick Cycling Club
Sport-Cycling
Achievements- Under-17 Australian track development team, AusCycling Junior Pathways Program and has been offered a position with the AusCycling Victorian Road Development Academy.
Quote- “My dream is to one day be selected to represent my country at the elite level, to finish on the podium and to be the best I can be.”
August
Name- Thomas McGuane
School/Club- Maribyrnong Sports Academy, Keilor Football Club/Western Jets
Sport- Football
Achievements- Vic Metro under-18s, Essendon District Football League premier division premiership, Western Jets vice-captain, made his Victorian Football League debut.
Quote- “You can have a 30-possession game but be more effective and influence a game more with better running patterns and 15 possessions.”
September
Name- Sam Simmonds
Club- Brooklyn Tennis Club
Sport- Tennis
Achievements-. Victoria captain in the School Sport Australia competition and represents Kooyong Tennis Club as a foundation scholarship holder. Ranked in the top 10 under-18 players in Australia.
Quote- “I found that I could change it up and match them tactically, but my consistency as a player must improve.”
October
Name-Denise Chan
School- Maribyrnong Sports Academy
Sport- Volleyball
Achievements- Under-16 Australian Championships, under-16 Australian team.
Quote- “While we didn’t reach the ultimate success in that competition it taught us all so much about the game and what it takes to be the best.”
November
Name- Jobe Stewart
Program- Taekwondo Australia Performance Pathway Program.
Sport- Taekwondo
Achievements- World Taekwondo Championships, finished fifth in the Canadian and Korean Open titles.
Quote- “You need a lot of discipline when you are 15, 16 and your mates are going out, you must train, remain disciplined with your training, missing socialising with friends and staying on a strict diet.
