Bay of Plenty Polytechnic High Performance Sports Scholarship awards

Family, friends and industry paid homage to the Bay's bourgeoning sporting talents on Thursday night when nine of the regions elite athletes received High Performance Sports Scholarships from Bay of Plenty Polytechnic.

Amongst the athletes were national champions representing a range of SPORT NZ recognised sports including netball, squash, rowing, surf lifesaving, surfing, touch rugby, water polo, and wrestling.

The scholarships are open to all students studying any full-time programme at the Polytechnic who are competing at a national or international level in their sporting code. This year saw more than 40 applicants vie for the nine scholarships.

Mike Dudson the scholarship manager said "Once again the High Performance Academy has assembled a group of very talented and motivated athletes. They came from a pool of quality applicants, which meant some really difficult decisions. It is a real privilege to able to support our local talent. "

Dave Clarke, National Coaching Director at Squash New Zealand, was the guest speaker at the awards and was thrilled with the calibre of the athletes.

"It's fantastic that the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic provides these scholarships to enable High Performing Athletes to continue to study and train in the Bay of Plenty. I look forward to following their progress and successes in the months and years to come. "

Winners of the 2013 scholarships are Grace Spiers (surfing); Tauranga Boys' College 'Old Boys' Ben Grindrod (squash), Carlos Savage (touch rugby), Marshall Gibson (wrestling), and Sam Shergold (surf lifesaving); former Mount Maunganui College students Daniel Kayes (water polo) and Tayla Blanchard (netball); former John Paul College student Natalie Hill (rowing); and Te Puke High School graduate Natalie Peat (surf lifesaving).

Also presented at the awards ceremony was the Howie Hinton Memorial Scholarship. This annual award was presented on behalf of the Hinton family to Josena Groot, a student who emulates the qualities shown by the late Howie Hinton, a dedicated and inspirational tutor of sport and recreation programmes at Bay of Plenty Polytechnic.

All scholarship winners receive their year's tertiary fees paid, access to the Polytechnic's sport and fitness centre, including performance sport testing, as well as education, sporting and lifestyle support services provided by a High Performance Manager. The scholarships provide athletes with real choices as well as allowing them to balance both career and sporting aspirations.

IMAGE:

From left to right:

Mike Dudson (Scholarship Manager), Sam Shergold, Grace Spiers, Natalie Peat, Ben Grindrod, Carlos Savage, Natalie Hill.