New Zealand Rural Sports Awards judging panel convenor Nathan Twaddle said he was thrilled to be celebrating so many people who had provided a lasting impact and benefit to the rural sporting community.
"The Norwood New Zealand Rural Sports Awards honour everyone from young athletes, to lifetime achievers; including those who work behind the scenes to make sure rural sports survive.
"This year, once again, we had an incredibly impressive line-up of finalists for each category showcasing the strengths of rural sports in Aotearoa."
Twaddle said although the quality of entries was high across the board, the nominations for the Lifetime Legacy Award proved so high that the judges couldn't decide on just one winner.
"We were simply blown away by the quality of nominees represented across a range of rural sports in the Toyota Legacy Lifetime Award. After receiving the highest ever number of nominations for that category, we didn't think it fair to select just one winner.
"Many people were deserving of this award and so we've decided to recognise all five of our finalists as equal recipients of the award."
The legacy award winners were Sally Mallinson (sheep dog trials), Curly Troon (gumboot throwing), Greg Herrick (shearing), Nick Liefting (fencing), and Sheree Taylor (wood chopping).
The other Rural Sports Awards winners were Rural Sportsman of the Year - Rowland Smith (shearing); Rural Sportswoman of the Year - Keryn Herbert (wool handling); Outstanding Contribution to Rural Sport - Murray and Deneece Goldsworthy (harness racing), and Warren White (shearing); Sir Brian Lochore Memorial Award - Tom Walsh (athletics).
The mental health of the farming community was a theme throughout the night. All Black great and mental health advocate Sir John Kirwan said mental illness is just that - an illness, and not a weakness. He spent five years thinking it was a weakness he had.
Anxiety and depression take away your self-esteem, self-confidence and enjoyment of life. He said self-esteem is one of the most important things people can have.
Kirwan wanted to tell everyone in the rural community anxiety and depression are illnesses and not weaknesses. "If you do suffer, reach out and get help and there's plenty of help out there."
The farming community is introverted by nature and this can make it hard to talk about mental health. In addition, farmers work seven days a week, live and sleep with their business partner, and don't often get off the farm to have some other life. These factors are why the industry is at high risk of mental illnesses.
Kirwan told the 400-strong audience New Zealand's high suicide rate is our Mt Everest and we all need to be Sir Ed Hillarys. He challenged the audience to put mental health on the agenda as too many of our young people are killing themselves.
Co-host Jamie Mackay said Kirwan was the guy that made it OK not to be OK.
Olympic bronze medallist Tom Walsh also shared his mental health challenges. The shot putter said he was all set to go to the Tokyo Olympics last year when they were postponed because of Covid-19. He said the uncertainly about competitions and then getting back into New Zealand placed huge mental strain on him.
Walsh spoke about dark periods and it felt like he was carrying a big backpack on his back with useless stuff in it - nothing that would help him throw far.
Walsh realised he needed to put things into perspective and this is why you need good supportive people around you.
