Bonnie Doon s Ricky Kato topped off an already fantastic year by being awarded the Val Lembit Trophy as the most outstanding male athlete in the Combined High School Sports Association. Held at the Olympic Stadium at Homebush on Friday night, a gathering of over 300 of students, parents, friends and dignitaries gathered to recognise the achievements of New South Wales&apos top student athletes across 27 sports at the annual Blues Presentation Night. Having received a Blue for his golfing efforts in 2010, Kato was this year awarded the highest sporting honour in the State for not only his results on the golf course, but also for his conduct away from the course. Kato will now have his named etched into school sport history alongside a very distinguished list of athletes to have also won the award including Ian Thorpe and fellow golfer Nick Flanagan. Below is a copy of the citation read out at the presentation evening. Ricky Kato has represented his school, family and the New South Wales Combined High Schools Sports Association with distinction in 2010 and 2011, in his chosen sport of Golf. Ricky is a mature, responsible and personable young man who has a great sense of humour, and a very positive outlook on life. In 2011, Ricky won the NSW All Schools Matchplay Championship. He also finished first in the NSW All Schools Golf Trials, and was equal second in the NSW All Schools Strokeplay Championships. These excellent performances were recognised with his selection as Captain of the 2011 NSW Combined High Schools Golf Honour Team , and the NSW All Schools Golf team that competed at the School Sport Australia Golf Championships held in Adelaide. At the School Sport Australia Golf Championships, held at the Tea Tree Gully Golf Course, Ricky posted scores of 68-70 (4 under par) to win the Strokeplay title by 3 shots. This was the second year in a row that he has won the national title, and he is only the second male player in the history of the championships to have won the title twice. Ricky s scores enabled the NSW All Schools team to win the Dean Shakes Trophy, which is awarded to the team winning the Interstate Team Strokeplay Championships . Ricky also won 5 of his 6 matches in the Matchplay Series to enable the NSW team to win the Interstate Matchplay series for the second year in a row. These excellent all round performances saw Ricky rewarded with the honour of being named as the Captain of the School Sport Australia Golf Honour Team , for the second year in a row. Ricky has also achieved outstanding results at the association level, winning numerous Jack Newton Junior Golf Foundation, Age and Open Level events. This year he finished in the top 30 in the World Junior Golf Championships, and he also won the prestigious international golf tournament, the Aaron Baddeley International 17 years Golf Championship, held in China. Ricky is an outstanding young man who is extremely dedicated to pursuing excellence in the sport of Golf. Ricky Kato is the outstanding recipient of the Val Lembit Memorial Trophy in 2011.
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