The spotlight during 2014
heroics in Wellington club rugby.
They stuttered badly at the end of the Swindale Shield round and never recovered really for the Jubilee Cup.
The elevation of Paremata-Plimmerton to premier status will be watched keenly – one or two wins from the Swindale Shield round will be a huge boost for the newcomers.
St George Dragons finished bottom of the Wellington club rugby league standings and Porirua Vikings, whose title- winning ways are fresh in supporters’ memory, were also-rans most of the winter.
The debacle against University in July, when the Vikings premiers fielded thirdstring players in odd shorts, socks and jerseys, put a full stop on their season. Stern questions were asked by club officials, and don’t be surprised to see a coaching shakeup before kickoff next year.
The disappointment of the major codes in 2014 was highlighted in the nominations at the Porirua Sports Awards.
For the first time, Kapi-Mana News had a representative on the organising committee and the judging panel, and the newspaper also presented the inaugural Kapi-Mana News Elite Award to Parramatta Eels league winger Bureta Faraimo, whose mother happily accepted it on his behalf.
Swimming, bowls, basketball, underwater hockey, surf lifesaving, tag football, waka ama and barefoot waterskiing were to the fore on the big night.
Bevan Kelly (barefoot waterskiing), Hocking, Emma Symonds ( underwater hockey), Deslea Wrathall (basketball), Nevill Sutton, Ben Walsh (swimming) and the Porirua-based tag football team were category winners, before Hocking was called to the stage for a second time. The theme this year was water. Porirua and Tawa have water on their doorstep and our swimmers, surf lifesavers, paddlers and underwater hockey players performed brilliantly.
Porirua Canoe Kayak Club set the scene in January, returning from the nationals on Lake Karapiro with a swag of medals. Porirua has a handful of waka ama clubs, all working hard to instil in young and old paddlers discipline, teamwork and fitness – and the results are flowing.
Walsh has a bright future and expect Titahi Bay Surf Lifesaving Club’s members – from Steven Kent to the rising junior lifesavers – to continue to feature heavily at every level.
Kelly and Hocking are the world champions you’ve never heard of, but they had their moment in the limelight at the sports awards.
The schools and colleges remain a fertile hunting ground for sports stories.
In 2014, the key schools that informed us about sporting achievements within their ranks were Tawa College, Aotea College, Rangikura School and Brandon Intermediate.
We hope to bring even more schools into the fold in 2015.
Some of our favourite sportspeople to chat to this year in the ‘‘minor sports’’ category included Sam Green and Alex Awatere (Australian rules), Zach Bovey ( inline hockey), BJ Brunton (bodybuilding), Jeremy Hollis (archery), Marcus Walker (underwater rugby), Ann Bondy ( duathlon), Seamus Curtin (bowls), Sheldon Ogilvie (fencing), Craig Caldwell (darts), Kate Horan (paracycling) and Turi Hodges (waka ama).
This year we began a series of regular Question and Answer interviews, with Declan Edge ( football), Don Tricker (softball and high-performance sport), Bruce Watt (1960s All Black) and Bob Bishop (basketball) being the standouts.
Finally, our thanks to the principals, administrators, coaches and proud parents who have contacted us with tips this year. Long may it continue.