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Voting for the 2020-21 Wairarapa Times-Age Sports Awards closes tomorrow. To assist with your votes, CHRIS COGDALE summarises the categories and the finalists.
SENIOR SPORTS TEAM
Wairarapa men’s bowls team
Made history, winning a bronze medal at the National Intercentre Championships in Wellington in March 2021.
Dalefield men’s hockey team
Won the 2019 and 2020 Hockey Wellington premier championship, gaining their third and fourth titles in six years.
Dalefield women’s hockey team
Won the 2020 Wellington premier championship.
Masterton Golf Club
Won the prestigious Duncan Cup for the first time in the club’s history beating New Judgeford in the 2019 final at Royal Wellington. Masterton completed the double in 2020, convincingly beating Shandon.
YOUTH SPORTS TEAM
Rathkeale football first XI
Fourth in the strong Wellington premier boy’s championship in 2019 and finished a creditable 14th at the national tournament.
St Matthew’s cricket First XI
Scored two top-three places at the national play-offs in 2019-20 finishing third, and 2020-21 finishing runners-up.
Wairarapa Pony Club Mounted Games
Won the NZPCA mounted championship. The team of Wairarapa riders represented the Wairarapa-Wellington region.
Wairarapa United juniors
Won the second-tier competition at the national Under-19 tournament in October 2020. Went unbeaten in pool play and won the final 5-4 in a penalty shootout.
JUNIOR SPORTS TEAM
Featherston Amateur Wrestling Club
Won multiple medals at national championships, club championships, North Island and South Island championships.
Masterton Intermediate School baseball team
Won the Wellington region intermediate schools’ sports association Baseball Cup, winning all their four games in convincing style.
St Matthew’s Primary School cricket team
Qualified for the ANZ national playoffs for the second time in 2020 finishing sixth and winning the Spirit of Cricket award.
Wairarapa Cricket Year 8 boys’ team
Narrowly missed out on overall tournament honours in the annual junior tournament in Napier in 2020, beating Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, and the two Wellington sides.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Dane Lett
Coached the Dalefield team to two Wellington premier titles 2019 and 2020, with the latter an unbeaten season.
Joe Harwood
Led Wairarapa-Bush to the 2019 Meads Cup top four, narrowly missing a place in the final in a tight semifinal against eventual champions North Otago.
Mark Harris
Coached numerous athletes to medal success at various national and North Island championships, including Liam Lamb, who qualified for the World University Games.
Michael O’Connor
Coached Dalefield to the 2020 Wellington premier women’s title.
JUNIOR SPORTS PERSONALITY
Alexandria Anstis
Won the National Under-12 pairs and individual titles and the Under-14 individual title at the NZ Mounted Games.
Lucas Sargent
Won gold and silver medals at the 2019 and 2020 national wrestling championships, and two golds at the North Island and South Island Championships.
Maggie Shields
Starred for the Giants softball age group teams and was MVP for Hutt Valley at the Under-13 national championship.
Nate George
Also starred in wrestling, winning gold medals at national and North Island and South Island championships.
YOUTH SPORTS PERSONALITY
Jake Jonas
Scored 872 runs, including three centuries for Rathkeale, and averaged nearly 60 in matches for the school, Wairarapa, and the Central Districts Under-17 team.
Jayden Webb Milner
Starred for the Rathkeale First XV in 2020, earning selection to the Hurricanes secondary schools training squad.
Jonty Roubos
Selected for New Zealand Under-17 and Under-20 football training squads. As well as starring for Rathkeale, Roubos played for Wairarapa United, Tasman United, and Wellington Phoenix Reserves.
Ocean Bartlett
Represented the NZ Maori secondary schoolgirls’ cricket team in 2020 and 2021. Bartlett also captained St Matthew’s to second at the national playoffs.
SENIOR SPORTS PERSONALITY
Dane Lett
An integral member of the Black Sticks team that qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with victory in the qualifying series against South Korea. He also won the national league with the Central Falcons and the Wellington premier title with Dalefield.
James Goodger
Named in the 2019 NZ Heartland XV, only to injure his shoulder in the team’s first game. Goodger retired after kicking the winning penalty for Marist in the 2020 Wai-Bush grand final.
Liam Lamb
Won the 2020 Under-20 3000m championships, was third in the national cross-country championships, and qualified in the 5000m for the World University Games.
Stefan Hook
Made his first-class cricket debut for Central Districts in March 2020. He went on to become Wairarapa’s highest wicket taker and was named the 2020-21 CD Hawke Cup Player of the Year.
DISABLED SPORTS PERSONALITY
National cross-country champion and athletics champion Josh Taylor, national javelin champion Ben Taylor, and national para-athletic gold medallist in sprinting and long jumper Jack Lewington are the three finalists.
OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR
Wairarapa-Bush’s leading club referee Alistair Payne controlled his sixth straight final in the 2020 decider between Marist and Greytown. He is joined by Mark Harris – one of New Zealand’s leading track and field judges and photo-finish specialist, Rebecca Mahoney, the first woman to referee a Ranfurly Shield challenge, and Peter Sigvertsen, Hockey Wairarapa’s leading whistleblower.
JUNIOR OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR
Hockey umpires April Milne and Lulu McNelly, promising netball umpire Maralyse Whiteman, and badminton umpire and scorer Nikita Johnson are the finalists in this category.
VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR
Arguably the toughest category to judge, with all finalists spending many hours contributing to their sports.
Blue Hansen for his hard work with rugby and netball, Carol MacDonald for countless hours running ACM Harriers, Kevin Wilson for his contribution to Wairarapa United football, and Liam Montgomery for assisting other athletes at events across the country.
ADMINISTRATOR OF THE YEAR
Another incredibly difficult category to judge. Wairarapa Cricket chairman David Parke for the positive changes he has made to the organisation’s administration, Kath Houlistan, who has organised netball for many years at Wairarapa College, Mark Elliott for almost singlehandedly running the Red Star Cricket Club, and Steve Sale for his organisation of the Wairarapa Football Referees.
CLUB OF THE YEAR
Dalefield Hockey, Featherston Wrestling, Gladstone Hockey Club, and Gladstone Junior Tennis Club are the finalists.
SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR
Kuranui, Rathkeale, St Matthew’s, and Wairarapa College are the finalists in the College of the Year, and Gladstone School, Lakeview, Masterton Intermediate, and St Matt’s are the choices in the Primary School of the Year.
- The Supreme Award winner will be chosen from the winners of all categories.
- The winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on Thursday September 23, with NZ rowing great Mahe Drysdale the guest speaker.
