Like father, like son, at sports awards
It’s nearly 20 years to the day that Thomas Perenara received the top gong at the Porirua Sports Awards and he still recalls his nerves.
‘‘Twenty years has gone quick, but I do remember feeling some pressure and being nervous on the night,’’ he said.
Perenara, 28 at the time of the awards, was recognised for being part of the world championshipwinning Black Sox softball side at the event held at the Porirua Club, attended by more than 160 people.
He and winner of the sports administrator award, Tere French, were featured on the front page of Kapi-Mana News on October 1, 1996, with their silverware.
Twenty years later, Perenara’s son, TJ, is up for sportsperson of the year, following an outstanding 12 months with the Hurricanes and All Blacks.
Perenara Snr said he had lived in Titahi Bay since 1990 and thought not being a born and bred local might come into the sports awards judges’ minds six years later.
‘‘I was a bit shy about it all and felt like a bit of an outsider but it was very cool and nice to be recognised.
‘‘I had made the decision that year to give up playing, as hard as that was, because softball was amateur and I had a job and a family to think about. TJ was very young and it was out of respect for [wife] Fiona because it’s not easy to walk out the door for weeks on end.’’
Perenara said to join his mother-in-law Patricia Farrow and brother-in-law Jason Farrow as a sports awards winner - and Fiona had also been a past nominee, all for softball - and to have TJ win in 2013 and be nominated this year was a nice feeling.
He said TJ was ‘‘living the dream’’ as a professional athlete, but the awards were a fantastic chance to highlight mostly amateur sportspeople working their socks off.
‘‘You see the names on there and it’s a who’s who, everybody is deserving and there needs to be mention of the work behind the scenes for these athletes to succeed at the top level. Without that support, they can’t do what they do.’’
Also prominent in our October 1, 1996, issue was information about candidates for the first ever MMP election to happen 11 days later. Labour’s Graham Kelly was victorious in the newly created seat of Mana.