Sport: Grants give top talents an edge

IN CHARGE: Windsurfer Coral Headey.PHOTO/FILE

BayTrust and Sport Bay of Plenty have announced the recipients of the second round of the 2014-15 BayTrust Sport Scholarships recognising athletes and coaches. The goal is to support and assist Bay of Plenty sporting talent to achieve on the national and international sporting stage and allow coaches to develop new skills that can be delivered back to the community.

The scholarships are funded from BayTrust's $422,500 annual contribution to Sport Bay of Plenty's CoachForce programme.

BayTrust Athlete Scholarships

Jack Dangen (Tauranga) - Canoe Slalom
In 2014, Jack competed at the U23 World Championships where he placed 26th in the K1 Men's. Jack placed third at the Oceania Championships in the U18 K1 Men's, and has also won the U16 K1 men's title at the Australian Secondary Schools, the U16 K1 Australian Nationals and also the U16's K1 Australian Open. Jack is ranked No6 overall in the K1 for men in New Zealand.

Callum Gilbert (Oropi) - Canoe Slalom
Callum has achieved impressive results here in New Zealand and overseas. One of the highlights of the year came at the 2014 ICF Junior World Championships where Callum placed eighth in the final after qualifying third. This is the best placed finished by any NZ paddler in the K1 at a Junior World Championships.

Alex Hawthorne (Welcome Bay) - Canoe Slalom
Alex was in the New Zealand National Performance Squad and achieved outstanding results. At the NZ selection series Alex finished second in the U18 K1, at the NZ Open he finished second in the U18 K1, third at the Australia Nationals in the U18 K1 and second at the Australia secondary schools in the U18 K1.

Patrick Washer (Tauranga) - Canoe Slalom

Patrick had a dominant year winning the U18 and national C1 titles in New Zealand and also Australia. Patrick has also had very good results at the World Cup events, finishing 55th at the third event and 52nd at the first event.
Justin Pickering (Papamoa) - Water polo

Justin has been a part of the NZ B98 water polo team for the past two years. In 2013, Justin helped win the test series 3-0 and in 2014 Justin was named MVP for the series against Australia.

Coral Headey (Bellevue) - Wind surfing
Coral has been a part of the New Zealand Techno wind surf team for the past two years with impressive results. Coral placed first at the New Caledonian nationals, first at North Island Championships, first at NZ and Oceania Championships, and was placed a very creditable 16th at the World Youth Olympics.

Ben Johnston (Papamoa) - Surf Life Saving
Ben has had an outstanding year and returned from the World Life Saving Championships with a very large medal tally. In France, he had 14 top three finishes and two top four finishes in the Board race, Manikin carry, Ironman, Taplin relay, Beach relay, obstacles relay and the Medley.

Alanna Campbell (Bayfair) - Golf
Alanna's outstanding 2014 started with a win at the Victoria Junior Masters in January. Since then Alanna has had great results finishing second in the Grant Clements Memorial, third at the Lawn Master Classic, she won the Bay of Plenty Open, was second at the Cambridge Classic and placed 33rd at the World Junior Girls Championships.

Joseph Millar (Papamoa) - Athletics
Since 2012, Joseph has dominated the sprinting scene in New Zealand winning the 100m and 200m sprint titles every year to date. He also has achieved success in Australia, not finishing outside the top three in the 100m since 2012 and has also won the 200m title in 2012 and last year stormed home to claim the silver. Joseph holds the third fastest time in New Zealand history for the 100m and is hoping to become the first New Zealander to break the 10-second barrier.

Joseph Lyons (Tauranga) - Hockey

Joseph is a talented sportsman. He was a member of the Junior Black Sticks Youth Olympic squad and is also a member of the New Zealand U18 Junior Black Sticks Squad.

Andrew Lloyd (Papamoa) - Triathlon
Andrew is a young triathlete with immense talent. His results on the international stage have been of the highest standard, with three podium finishes in the BW LBS series in Division 1 in Germany and also named overall winner of the series.

Andrew placed fifth at the 20-24 years World Championships and is hoping to once again be named overall winner of the BW LBS Series in 2015.
Jasmine Tawa (Tauranga) - Volleyball

Jasmine has been a part of the successful Otumoetai senior A team since 2013.

She has enjoyed success in 2013 winning the national title and finishing third in the Australian national competition.

This success has seen Jasmine represent New Zealand at the Vanuatu Championships in beach volleyball.

Courteney Lowe (Bethlehem) - Road Cycling
Courteney, for the past two years, has been performing at the top of her sport.

In 2012 and 2013, Courteney has been a contract rider for one of the top cycling teams in the world Optum P/B KBS. This year Courteney was third at the Kelly Cup in Wilmington and won the NZ national road race as a Bay of Plenty representative. This year has been frustrating for Courteney with injury keeping her out of cycling until July but she has secured her place on the Optum P/B KBS team.

Fraser Sharp (Tauranga) - Para Triathlon/Cycling
One of the highlights of Fraser's season came in July when Fraser placed 10th in the UCI Para World Championships. Fraser has high hopes of continuing his fine form in 2015 with wins in the UCI World Cup events in Adelaide and Cambridge and also a top three finish in the World Cup event in Italy.

BayTrust Coach Scholarships
Simon Ward (Brookfield) - Hockey

Simon holds his National Certificate in Coaching and is working with Otumoetai College coaching their third XI and 2nd XI in the past two years. Simon wants to be a part of the U15 coaching team in the 2015 season.

Simon Anderson (Pyes Pa) - Hockey
Simon is just starting out his coach education pathway with hockey and is hoping to complete his New Zealand Advanced Youth Coaching Levels 1 and 2 in 2014. He is coaching the Aquinas College First XI girls team.

Tanenuiarangi Bennett (Maungatapu) - Basketball
Since 2013, Tane has been working with Tauranga Girls' College and Tauranga City representative basketball. In 2014, Tane has started to work with the New Zealand U18 teams and is hoping to continue this development in the future with inclusion in the NZ Korus coaching staff for 2015.

Anna Jackson (Pyes Pa) - Gymnastics
Anna has been actively working with impact Gymnastics Academy during the past two years and is hoping to complete her Bachelor of Sport and Recreation in 2015. She continues to develop the sport of gymnastics in our region.

Marty Bourke (Papamoa) - Rugby
Marty has been working hard in the rugby community as coach of the Arataki Senior A, sevens and tens teams. He has also been working with the women's game at Arataki. Marty has delivered the SOS rugby programme into secondary schools. In 2015, Marty is hoping to continue his coaching development by completing his Level 3 NZRU coaching certificate.

Graeme Randolph (Mt Maunganui) - SquashGraeme has been involved in squash for most of his life. As a player he has represented New Zealand and has been an A grade player for more than 25 years. As a coach Graeme has worked with the Bay of Plenty development squads, is coaching more than 200 school kids weekly from February to December and is coaching coaches for qualification in the national programme. Graeme hopes to attend two world boys' training camps in 2015.