Equestrian Shane Rose, and his wife Niki, welcomed their daughter Olivia Cleo on May 8. Olivia Rose was born at Nepean Private Hospital at 8.22 am, weighed 3.7 kg (8 pounds 3 ounces), and measured 51 cm.

Shane joined his local Pony Club at the age of 5, and represented Australia at the Young Rider Trans-Tasman Competition at 21, riding Mr Joe Cool. Since then he has competed at many events, most notably at the 2008 Beijing Olympics riding All Luck, when the Australian team gained a silver medal in Eventing. Shane had already reached London when he had to pull out of this year’s Olympics, due to his horse Taurus suffering a minor injury. Shane will be replaced by Megan Jones, riding Allofasudden.

Niki (nee Chapman) has also represented Australia in Eventing, and trains young horses in Dressage and Eventing. She and Shane run Bimbadeen Park, a facility for breeding and training horses, and are on the Elite Squad with the New South Wales Institute of Sport. Shane and Niki were married early last year.

Basketball player Darren Ng, and his wife Tam, recently welcomed a son named Orlando.

Darren plays for the Adelaide 36ers in the NBL, and started his professional career with them in 2003. In 2008 he signed with the Singapore Slingers, and after the team folded, he returned to the 36ers in 2009. In a recent poll of NBL players, Darren was rated as the best shooter in the National Basketball League.

Darren is the oldest child of a practising Adelaide GP, and both his younger brothers have completed medical school. Darren decided to also pursue a career in medicine, and managed to juggle basketball with his studies. He graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), and works as a resident doctor at the emergency department of the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Last year, Dr Ng admitted himself to the same hospital as a patient, and was diagnosed with pneumonia, later making a full recovery.

Golfer Jason Day, and his wife Ellie, welcomed their first child on July 11 and have named their son Dash James. Dash Day was born in Ohio weighing 8 pounds 4 ounces (3.7 kg), and Jason has pulled out of the British Open to spend time with  his wife and new baby.

Jason is from regional Queensland, has been playing golf since the age of 6, and winning competitions since the age of 8. Jason’s mum, who is originally from the Phillipines, enrolled him in schools where golf was taken seriously as a sport. Using Tiger Woods’ scores as a standard to reach for, he won his first big event at the age of 13 in a 2000 Australian Masters junior event on the Gold Coast. As an amateur, he twice he won the Junior Order of Merit, and competed successfully in junior events in both Australia and the United States.

Jason turned professional in 2006, signed up with two major sponsors, and began playing in PGA Tour events. He won his first Nationwide Tour event in 2007 at the Legend Financial Group Classic, becoming the youngest man to win on any of the PGA Tour’s three tours. In 2010 he became the youngest Australian to win a PGA Tour event when he won the HP Byron Nelson Championship; later that year he made his debut at the PGA Championship. Last year Jason made the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings at #9, and ranked ninth on the PGA Tour money list.

Ellie (nee Harvey) is from the tiny village of Lucas, in Ohio. Jason and Ellie met while they were both still teenagers, in an Irish pub where beauty school student Ellie was working part-time. They became friends and remained in contact, but didn’t see each other often.

Ellie and Jason started dating in 2007, and within six months were living together in Florida. Ellie’s dad had a conniption – apart from Jason being a professional athlete, which sent up “Danger, danger, warning, warning!” signals to Mr Harvey, apparently being an Australian was also a red flag moment. Dad seems to have calmed down slightly once Ellie and Jason got engaged.

Ellie and Jason were married in 2009, and had a country-style wedding in a barn; the couple now own a country property in Ohio. Ellie’s mother says she always knew Ellie would marry someone famous, but wasn’t expecting Jason – she had American country singer Brad Paisley picked out for her. Both the Harveys are now very fond of Jason and his unassuming manner, and they figure that after all, he is  a country boy.

Ellie and Jason have become one of the most written-about and photographed young couples on the golf circuit, with Ellie Day listed as one of the “hottest” golf wives. However, they’re really just country folk at heart, and the Days have picked out a name for their son that has a very country feel to it.

NB Brad Paisley has been married to actress Kimberley Williams since 2003, and has two young sons, William Huckleberry and Jasper Warren.

(Picture shows Jason and Ellie with their dachshunds, Charlie and Lola, in their RV while on tour)

AFL player Brent Prismall, and his wife Nicole, welcomed their first child on July 14, and have named their son Jarvis Dylan. Jarvis Prismall weighed 3.6 kg (8 pounds), and he arrived on Brent’s 26^th birthday as a special present for dad.

Brent began his career with the Geelong Cats in 2006, winning the team’s Best First-Year Player Award that year. He has been playing for the Essendon Bombers since 2009. He is currently out due to injury.

Singer Matt Hetherington, and his wife Mel, welcomed their first child last week, and have named their son Oscar James.

Matt has been been a professional singer for more than twenty years, and has performed all over the world. He’s also acted in musical theatre, and has won awards for his roles in The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Next to Normal. This year, he was a contestant on Channel Nine’s The Voice, and was selected for Team Delta, being coached by pop star Delta Goodrem. His audition song was Stevie Wright’s Evie.

Melissa (nee Kotsos) is a model and actress who is currently a presenter on Melbourne travel show, Coxy’s Big Break on Channel Seven. She and Matt were married in 2007.