Bree Mccowatt
Bree was nominated for her immense community contribution towards Surf Life Saving. This hard-working 17-yearold from Ngatea has been awarded Rookie of the Year, runner-up Under 17 Sportsperson of the Year and U19 Lifeguard of the Year awards for the Eastern Region. She has also been named Junior Life Guard of the Year, top rookie mentor of the year and most promising crew person for Waihi Surf Life Saving with a club record of 276 for most voluntary hours.
Currently she is a rookie coordinator committee member, volunteer lifeguard and vice patrol captain. In addition to her voluntary hours, Bree is a competitive surf lifesaver winning multiple awards over the past year.
In 2019, she represented New Zealand in swimming at the 2019 World Deaf Swimming Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She made both the Under 15 and the Under 18 regional netball teams and went on to compete at nationals.
This year, she was named a recipient for the Tania Dalton Foundation Scholarship, a three-year scholarship that offers financial assistance as well as mentoring, leadership, giving back, guidance and support to be the best they can be
in both sports and life. This is awarded to high- achieving athletes who represent their chosen sport by not only performance-based results but attitude, role modelling and demonstrating a high level of dedication and commitment.
She has also been selected for the Pinnacle Programme, which again selects 12 youth from around the county who have demonstrated a community spirit, leadership skills and are leaders within their
community, country and globally and inspired to make a change.
In addition to her voluntary hours in surf lifesaving and swimming, she also coaches several hours each week during the summer at the Ngatea Swimming Club, is head girl at Hauraki Plains College and has already achieved NCEA Level 3 with Excellence leading on to a degree at the University of Auckland next year.