At the Premier’s Harmony Dinner held on March 13, 2021 Filipino-Australian handball star Bevan Calvert was awarded the Village Plaza Community Medal for Sport.
As Calvert is in Germany, his mother Violi proudly received the medal on his behalf.
Calvert was nominated for the award by Charles Chan of Radio Bayanihan. The nomination was supported by the reference letters from Bronwyn Thompson (CEO and Secretary-General of Handball Australia), Josie Musa (President of Adhika Inc.) and Carmen Garcia (National President of Filipino Community Council of Australia).
Calvert was one of eleven recipients of the Community Medal awarded at the biggest government event since COVID 19 restrictions were implemented in March 2020. The complete list of the awardees are as follows:
- Australian National Maritime Arts and Culture Medal – Ghada Daher-Elmowy
- Adaps Corporate Business Excellence Medal – Navitas English
- Welcoming Cities Local Government Business Excellence Medal – Tamworth Regional Council
- Not for Profit Business Excellence Medal – Chinese Australian Services Society (CASS)
- All Graduates Interpreting and Translating Language Services Medal – Prof Rifaat Ebied
- SBS Lifetime Community Service Medal – Abla Tohamy Kadous
- Settlement Services International NSW Human Rights Medal – Dr Roger Gurr
- Commbank Regional Unity Medal – Miza Torlakovic
- Village Plaza Sports Medal – Bevan Stuart Calvert
- Stepan Kerkyasharian AO Community Harmony Medal – Rev Fr Fadi Nemme
Highly commended – International Student Water Safety Video - National Rugby League Youth Medal – Angelica Ojinnaka
The Community Medal for Sport award follows Calvert being voted as the Surprise Athlete of the Year 2020 which was among the yearly sports awards ran by the newspaper Kieler Nachrichten where fans and readers voted online for the nominated sports people in various categories . Calvert’s winning the award by a big margin is a testimony of how well the Fil-Aussie is regarded by the handball followers in the Kiel Region.
