Teens loom as top team in race for Halberg honours Awards
In this series, we look at the main Halberg Awards contenders.
We’re set for another tiresome debate over whether a Halberg Award winner needs to be a winner.
The phenomenal achievement of New Zealand to finish third at the women’s under-17 football World Cup recently may see them become the first football side to capture the Team of the Year title since the All Whites in 2010.
That was when the All Whites returned from the World Cup in South Africa undefeated, following draws in group play against Slovakia, defending champions Italy and Paraguay.
While that wasn’t enough to get them into the knockout round, it was still regarded as a massive over-achievement at one of the world’s biggest sporting events, ensuring they got the Halberg silverware.
With that precedent, what the women’s under-17 side did in Uruguay could be seen as more meritorious, as they claimed a bronze medal.
They had wins in their group over Finland and the hosts, stunned Japan on penalties in the quarterfinal, lost to eventual tournament victors Spain in the semi then completed their memorable tournament by beating Canada in the playoff for third.
Who are the other contenders that could make a claim for Team of the Year?
Well, it won’t be any of the usual suspects.
The All Blacks weren’t at their best in a pre-world Cup year and New Zealand rowers failed to win a single gold at the world championships.
It’s possible the away test series win by the Black Caps over Pakistan could throw them into the mix – they also scored a test series win over England this year.
New Zealand had an outstanding world canoe sprint champs campaign. Spearheaded by Lisa Carrington, the Kiwi women collected five medals – a gold and four silver in a record return for a Kiwi team at the regatta.
In Commonwealth Games year, there were some standout team performances on the Gold Coast. The men’s sprint cycling team were back to their best, the women’s Black Sticks exorcised some demons with gold while the men’s and women’s sevens teams both triumphed. They then backed that up with respective World Cup title wins in the US round in San Francisco in July.
They’re not New Zealand’s only men’s and women’s world conquerors – the Kiwis won gold in both categories at the world underwater hockey championships in Canada.