Phil Hoey was named Citizen of the Year in recognition of his decades of service to the Wagga community.

A first aid instructor since 1979, Mr Hoey has worked with Anglicare, the Asthma Foundation, the Heart Foundation, and served as Wagga’s national stroke ambassador. 

Mr Hoey very humbly said he was not expecting to be nominated, let alone win.

“Wagga’s a fantastic place – there’s so much you can do in this community to make a single bit of difference,” Mr Hoey said.

“My work as a paramedic has just enabled me an opportunity to get into the community and make a little bit of difference.” 

Francis Elliott-Rudder was named Young Citizen of the Year in recognition for his ongoing work with the Police Citizens Youth Club, runs a weekly archery class that he also created. 

A frequent volunteer with both his church and his Rotary club, Mr Elliott-Rudder was also selected to represent Australia at the One Young World 2017 conference in Colombia. 

Mr Elliott-Rudder said the award had given him some extra motivation to keep working hard.

“It feels amazing – it gives you some self-confidence in that what you’re doing is good and you should keep going,” he said.

“I guess the trick now is not to slack off – I just have to keep motoring along.” 

Some of Wagga’s finest sporting personalities were also honoured during the ceremony.

The Ted Ryder Memorial Award for contributions to sporting organisations through general service went to Peter Lloyd, who has helped to grow the sport of croquet throughout the region.

There were two new inductees to the Sporting Hall of Fame – cyclist Paul Fellows and footballer Rachael Addison. 

Having cycled from a young age, Mr Fellows represented Australia in numerous international cycling competitions before moving into a coaching and mentoring role where he now guides junior cyclists. 

Ms Addison reached the pinnacle of touch football, competing on an international level and becoming the first person from Wagga to be selected in the Australian open women’s touch football team.

Nationally acclaimed cricket coach Warren Smith was also inducted as a Sporting Hall of Fame Local Legend.

Mr Smith’s contributions to the sport have been endless – he has served as a specialist batting coach for national, state, and regional teams, and was awarded the Lifetime Cricket Coaching Achievement Award in 2014 and an Order of Australia medal in 2009. 

Some of his finest contributions have been right here in Wagga, where he was a founder of the Kooringal Colts cricket club and served as the premiership coach of several first grade teams.