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A young athlete who has excelled at rugby, netball and athletics was awarded Junior Sportsperson of the Year at the 35th annual Kaiwaka Sports Association Awards, held last month.
Maia Fairburn, 14, who was nominated by the Kaiwaka Fitness Centre, has also been selected for the New Zealand Maori under 14 tag rugby team.
Altogether, the awards attracted 22 nominations across the four award categories.
Senior Sportsperson of the Year was Bron Hames who captained the Northland women’s rugby team and played for the Te Hiku o Te Ika womens rugby team, which won the Northern Regions Maori tournament. Hames also travelled to Samoa to play for Te Tai Tokerau in the Vailima Marist International Sevens tournament and captained the Te Tai Tokerau side in the Pacifica Aotearoa cup.
Otamatea Netball Club president Jodie Bennetto received the Service to Sport Award for her voluntary work coaching several teams, umpiring games and fundraising for the club.
“Jodie puts a huge amount of work into the AIMS week every year, organising uniforms, accommodation, travel, food and fundraising, and is greatly appreciated by the netball girls and their families,” Kaiwaka Sports Complex manager Cheryl Anderson says.
The Greg McRae Memorial Trophy for excellence and contribution to sport went to talented all-rounder Jackson Brierly.
At 15, Jackson already has several years of rugby refereeing under his belt, having reffed at the Junior Tag Nationals and at the Junior Oceania Tag Cup.
He was recently awarded the Official of the Year title at the Sport Northland Awards for his refereeing.
The evening was compered by John Markby and was held at the Kaiwaka Sports Complex.
