Paraparaumu College student and teacher win a College Sport award

Alec Prentice, 16, won Golf Player of the Year (Boys) based on results from the year.

A student and a teacher from Paraparaumu College were recognised in the College Sport Wellington Sportspersons of the Year Awards.

Alec Prentice, 16, won Golf Player of the Year (Boys) based on results from the year.

Some of those results included winning the Otaki Sims Cup, Masterton Junior Open and Wellington U16 Boys Strokeplay.

Prentice has been playing golf for many years.

"My dad came home from a work function or something with golf clubs and I started swinging them.

"For my fifth birthday, I got my first set of clubs.

"From there I started hitting golf balls around parks and reserves.

"Then I started playing nine holes at Kapiti Golf Club and then 18 holes at Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club."

Prentice, who has a handicap of +0.2, tries to train each day as well as play at the weekends or more in the school holidays.

He has a golf coach, Kevin Smith, and a personal trainer, Zias De Beer, as he seeks to improve his game.

His short-term goal included playing more on the Charles Tour throughout New Zealand and his long-term aim was to play on the PGA or European Tour or something similar.

Prentice was also a joint winner of the Eagles Golfing Society of Wellington Young Golfer of the Year Award alongside Danika Lee.

The award is based on various criteria ranging from demonstrated commitment to the sport via games and practice, playing ability and competition results, behaviour on and off the course, being a team player, and academic report.

Winning both awards was "certainly exciting".

College physical education assistant head of department Richard Pinckney won a Volunteer of the Year award.

Paraparaumu College physical education assistant head of department Richard Pinckney won a Volunteer of the Year award.

"I was surprised because I didn't realise I had been nominated by my sports department.

"But it's a reward for 13 years of coaching sport at this school, especially hockey.

This year Pinckney has coached the 1st XI boys and the girls teams, which has meant three and a half hours' coaching on Monday nights, an hour on Thursday mornings, and games on Friday nights.

"When I started at the college 13 years ago, our 1st XI was in the second division of the Wellington competition and we've worked our way into the top division where we finish in the top four most years now."

Pinckney, who is leaving the college at the end of the year to take up a new role at Trident High School in the Bay of Plenty, has been passionate about hockey from an early age.

"I played the game when I was at Christ's College, Christchurch.

"I spent three years in the 1st XI, went away to tournaments, and steadily developed my game.

"I really thrived and enjoyed the fitness side of the sport, enjoyed the environment and had a really good coach.

"As soon as I left school, and decided to become a teacher, I definitely knew I would be coaching students hockey and taking them to tournaments."