Nominations open for sports awards
Which local sports star will join the likes of kayaker Aimee Fisher, cyclists Regan and Westley Gough and All Black Israel Dagg and have their name etched onto the Sportperson of the Year Award trophy in 2019?
Nominations are now open to local sports stars, teams and clubs that have done the region proud over the last 12 months.
Sport Hawke’s Bay chief executive Mark Aspden says, “2018 was a huge year for many of the region’s individuals and teams and I expect this will lead to a large number of nominations for the 2019 Hawke’s Bay Sport Awards.
“There have once again been some amazing performances over the past 12 months. We’ve got a lot of talent in the Bay and it’s really important that we don’t miss any of these achievements locally, nationally or internationally.
“It’s also important to nominate those that volunteer in sport. We’ve got several categories that acknowledge the contribution of those that act selflessly to help others achieve.”
There are 14 categories with the overall Sportsperson of the Year Award decided from the main categories of Junior, Disabled, Masters and Senior Sportsperson and Junior and Senior Team of the Year.
Finalists will be announced on Wednesday, April 24 and the winners will be announced at the awards gala dinner at Pettigrew.Green Arena on Saturday, May 25. Last year’s event was a sell out.
Last year’s winners included NZ Tall Blacks coach Paul Henare, current world champion cyclist Regan Gough as well as two-time winner and world champion canoeist Aimee Fisher along with key sports administrators such as Ivan Aplin and Julie Tangaere.
Ryan Hambleton, Sport Hawke’s Bay commercial manager, says, “It is great to have local businesses back on board for 2019, some organisations such as Nimons and Tremains who have been sponsoring the awards for over 15 years and others such as Nga¯ ti Kahungungu Iwi Inc and NZME who have been long-time supporters of sport in the region.
“We have opportunities for local business to get on board with the awards. It would be great to talk with any interested parties as we lead up to what is an outstanding night of celebrating sport in the Bay.”
To nominate visit the Hawke’s Bay Sports Awards www.hbsportsawards.co.nz. The awards will recognise achievements between April 16, 2018 and March 31, 2019.