The awards have been held at Te Rauparaha Arena since 2009.
The judges have met
but Porirua’s sporting public will have to wait a few weeks to find out who’s
scooped the major awards.
The Porirua Sports Awards will be held at Te Rauparaha Arena on 7 November, where part of the proceedings will be devoted towards celebrating that the first awards were held 50 years ago in 1969.
This year there were 51 nominations for the awards, across the Coach, Volunteer, Service to Sport, Young Sportswoman, Young Sportsman, Individual Sportswoman, Individual Sportsman, Disabled Athlete and Sports Team categories.
From those, the Michael Campbell Trophy will be awarded for the supreme award.
Along with traditional sports such as golf, football and rugby, the likes of basketball, surf lifesaving, motocross, kayaking, boxing and athletics will be represented.
Talking points include cousins Dhys and Tesera-Rose Faleafaga being up for Young Sportswoman, while, for the first time, a para athlete, Johan Gouws, has been nominated in the Disabled Athlete category.
First-time awards judge, Porirua City Councillor Kylie Wihapi, says the debate was fierce when they met to make their decisions.
“Firstly, the record number of nominations is incredibly pleasing,” she says.
“It’s fantastic to see what our sportspeople and teams have been achieving, but the awards night is also an opportunity to recognise the volunteers, coaches and the amazing people in the service to sport category.
“The quality of nominations was outstanding across the board and we had extremely tough choices to make. It will be great to highlight the success of our athletes in the past 12 months – sport is alive and well in Porirua and this is our chance to celebrate it.”
Kapi-Mana News will also present its Elite Award, given to a sportsperson plying their trade out of the region.
Nominees
Volunteer:
Brian Grace, kayaking
Damian Parker, boxing
Neil Snowling, football
Coach:
Allan Taylor, athletics
Deslea Wrathall, basketball
Helen Brookes, Special Olympics basketball
Service to Sport:
Eileen Adams, swimming
Mark O’Connor, swimming/bowls
Mike Parker, rugby
Young Sportswoman:
Dhys Faleafaga, rugby
Neve Sissons, kayaking
Tesara-Rose Faleafaga, handball/netball/basketball
Young Sportsman:
Ben Gold, basketball
Dylan Ball, motocross
Jayden Ford, golf
Individual Sportswoman:
Le Tava Whippy, basketball
Liana Findlater, surf lifesaving
Sanita Levave, rugby
Individual Sportsman:
Callum McCowatt, football
Daniel Hillier, golf
Jordan Ngatai, basketball
Sports Team:
Judgeford Golf Premier Team
Matt Archer & Glenn Muirhead, kayaking
Norths 7s & premier men’s team, rugby
Western Suburbs Men’s Team
Disabled Athlete:
Damian Johanson, Special Olympics football
Johan Gouws, Wheelchair Rugby
Wilson Stock, Special Olympics basketball
16 Oct 2019
