World shearing champs awards finalists
The World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships and ILT Stadium Southland are award finalists in a competition by the New Zealand Events Association.
The world championships held at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill in February this year, attracted competitors from 31 countries along with 4500 sheep for the four-day event, earning international praise for its showcasing of shearing and woolhandling sports.
The competition had between a $6.78 million to $7.48 million economic impact on the Southland economy, showed a report by Venture Southland.
A total of 12,607 paying spectators attended the event over four days, including sell-out crowds during the two final evenings of competition. The event is a finalist in the Best International Event category while ILT Stadium Southland was short-listed for the Best Industry Supplier for an Event award.
New Zealand Shearing Foundation Chairman Tom Wilson said shearing supporters would be delighted with the double announcement.
‘‘It’s very humbling just to make the final. When you look at the events which have won this award previously and the standard of this year’s finalists, it’s a great endorsement of all the hard work by the hundreds who made the World Championships the event it was,’’ he said.
‘‘We put our name forward to recognise all the support we received from the ILT Stadium team, the shearing fraternity, the public, sponsors and funders. And just like competing at world champs, once you make a final, anything can happen,’’ said Wilson, a former world shearing champion.
ILT Stadium Southland general manager Nigel Skelt said it was a great result for the event, the venue and the Southland community.
‘‘It’s fantastic recognition for what was a very special event. I think it also says a great deal about our community and this wonderful community facility that we can deliver a world class event to that standard,’’ Skelt said.
Other finalists in the international event category are the 2016 Aon Youth Sailing World Championships, Crankworx Rotorua 2016, the Royal New Zealand Navy’s 75th Anniversary International Navy Review and SingularityU New Zealand Summit. The winners will be announced at SkyCity in Auckland on October 11.
Being finalists in the awards means they are up for New Zealand’s Favourite Event of the Year, a people’s choice award. Voting for the award closes on October 3.