BayTrust Scholarships have been awarded to six local sports stars to help them achieve on the national and international sporting stage.
BayTrust and Sport Bay of Plenty on Tuesday announced the recipients of the BayTrust Scholarships. The scholarships aim to recognise athletes and coaches by supporting Bay of Plenty sporting talent to achieve on the national and international sporting stage and by allowing coaches to develop new skills to be delivered back to the community.
Among the Rotorua athlete scholarship winners were cross country mountain biker Amber Cross, triathlete Josh Kenyon and mountain bikers Katherine O'Neill and Nigel McDowell. Local coaching recipients were Sam Thompson for mountain biking and Wayne Johnston for squash.
The scholarships were funded by BayTrust's $400,000 annual contribution to Sport Bay of Plenty's CoachForce programme.
Both scholarships were open to sports people residing in the region covered by the BayTrust and Sport Bay of Plenty, with the intention the coaching expertise and sporting talent was retained in the Bay.