"I had great experiences while playing and I want them to make the most of those opportunities. There are good life lessons in sport and using sport is a good way of teaching kids those things.
"Just seeing the kids achieve is the most rewarding thing for me. They put a lot of hard work and effort on what we practice and seeing it all unfold out on the field and seeing them realise they make things work is the biggest thing."
Hemara said while it had made him feel a little bit awkward, he was grateful for the recognition.
"It's incredibly humbling to be recognised. I don't think any volunteer gets into this for the rewards. It's something we do because we love it," he said.
"I'm really thankful for the nomination and hopefully everyone else out there can see that volunteers get recognised and hopefully people jump on board."
More than 750 volunteers were nominated across the country, including 44 from the Northland area. Ten finalists were selected and each received $2000 worth of Lotto sports gear for their efforts, including Hemara. Now it's up to the public to vote and make him the best in the country.
Hemara said the sports gear went towards helping not just him, but the Hora Hora Rugby Club.
"I picked what I could use to help me continue to do what I do and I grabbed a bit of gear to give back to the club because it's about the club really," he said.
"We want to help the club grow."
Volunteer numbers are always an issue in club sport which thrives on the unpaid contributions of parents and those who love whatever sport they're involved with.
Hemara said it was the people behind the scenes who made sport tick and there was always a need for more to get involved.
"Volunteering is huge to sport. It's one thing I've learnt from this Lotto Sport Makers process is just how many people are behind the scenes," he said.
"I've always sort of known how many people are involved and just how important it is for people to get out there and help. A lot of clubs wouldn't happen if it wasn't for volunteers and sport wouldn't be the way it is.
"If you put it in a rugby scenario, you take Kensington Park and how many families are down there every Saturday mornings and we're just a small cog in New Zealand.
"You can take that to any other town and it's the same picture so there are hundreds of people making that all happen. Club sport is huge and having volunteers is massively important."
Hemara will continue to coach this year at Hora Hora. He said he wanted to stick with it and was always wanting to learn more about coaching.
"I'd love to carry on coaching. I love it, I'm passionate about it. I love being involved with the kids and watching that development happen so I'd like to keep involved," he said.
"You never know enough and you've got to find those opportunities to grow, learn and ask for help. It's a key thing for me is just doing whatever I can to find help when I don't know something.
"Take coaching courses if you can or watch YouTube but in the end there are people around who know things and they're more than willing to share it."
*You can vote for Jared Hemara in the Lotto Thank a Sport Maker competition by going to the Good on You website. You can vote once per day. Voting closes at midnight on March 10.
