DESERVING: Major award winners Blair Tuke and Emma Foy exuded graciousness and humour as they accepted their awards at the CSG Konica Minolta Northland Sports Awards. Photo/Langwoods
DESERVING: Major award winners Blair Tuke and Emma Foy exuded graciousness and humour as they accepted their awards at the CSG Konica Minolta Northland Sports Awards. Photo/Langwoods
Last Friday's CSG Konica Minolta Northland Sports Awards was an incredibly well run night that highlighted the many great sporting achievements of 2016.
With an Olympic and Paralympic panel as well as the awards and two inductions into the Northland Legends of Sport class, there was plenty to celebrate.
UnsurprisinglyBlair Tuke once again took the Supreme Award, which joined his awards for Sportsman of the Year and the ASB Code Award for Yachting, for his gold medal in the 49er skiff sailing class at the Rio Olympics and his exploits with the New Zealand America's Cup team.
Tuke was the epitome of graciousness in his acceptance speeches and showed a humorous side on the highly entertaining Rio panel.
Emma Foy was named the Sportswoman of the Year and a ASB Code Award winner for Parafed for her two medals at the Rio Paralympics.
She provided one of the many high points of the night with tongue-in-cheek anecdotes about her cycling partner Laura Thompson.
From battles over the double bed in hotel rooms to Thompson playing games with Foy using flatulence as a weapon, Foy stole the show on the panel.
Cameron Leslie, the Northern Advocate People's Choice Award winner for his world record performance in the SM4 150m medley at the Paralympics, recounted his feelings just after finishing his race which gave the earnest crowd a rare insight into the mind of an athlete in the moment before the celebrations kick off.
They were joined by Para-sailor Chris Sharp and hockey stars Stacey Michelsen and Brooke Neal, who each added something different to the proceedings.
BIG NIGHT: Scotty 'Sumo' Stevenson, pictured with Northland Rugby's Peter Nock, starred as co-MC of the night. Photo/Langwoods
The panel was expertly managed by co-MC Scotty 'Sumo' Stevenson, a Bream Bay College alumnus, who combined his impeccable comedic timing with well-delivered jokes usually, but not solely, regarding dating and Tinder.
Of courses, that wasn't the only highlight of the night.
Northland Legends of Sport welcomed Andrew Bennie and Arthur Parkin to their ranks.
Bennie was a bronze medallist in eventing at the Seoul Olympics, while Parkin was part of the 1976 New Zealand hockey side that brought home gold from Montreal.
Both spoke with dignity, humility and induced a fair amount of chuckling from the audience.
Perhaps the biggest cheer of the night was reserved for a team from a sport more associated with quietness and delectable morning tea spreads.
The Northland Women's Open Representative Bowl's Team were the winners of the Dudley and Dennis Team of the Year, garnering enthusiastic reactions from the crowd.
Co-MC Graeme Severinson quickly quipped that they were putting out a calendar, a line well-received by the audience.
A big congratulations must go to the team at Sport Northland, who orchestrated a fantastic evening with precision.
One thing that shone through on the night was the high level of achievement from Northlanders on the regional, national and international stages.
New Zealanders are often guilty of looking ahead before fully appreciating what has just been achieved. An article from the NZ Herald the day after the All Blacks won the World Cup mused about who would be in our 2019 starting lineup.
This sums up a Kiwi mentality which has both negative and positive ramifications. We are able to maintain extended periods of success with the 'onto the next one' thought process, but that lends itself to the narrative that what has just happened isn't important now.
It was refreshing to see that, at least in Northland, isn't always the case.
