Top young athletes to vie for awards

The search for Northland's best secondary school sportspeople has proved a success as 141 individuals, and three teams, have been found for the annual ASB Northland Secondary School Sports Awards.

Amongst the 141 finalists, who will compete against each other at the awards later this month, there are many recognisable names including swimming star Melita Raravula, shooter Mason Reed, golfer Kadin Neho, and squash stars Abbie Palmer, Jacinta Matson, and Max Trimble.

Traditional sporting codes, like netball and rugby combined with codes being represented for the first time like AFL and Ki-o-Rahi, make up the 40 codes being acknowledged.

For the first time athletes with disabilities will be recognised for their own achievements under the umbrella of Special Olympics and Parafed along with top performing officials being recognised.

In the Special Olympics category - for people with an intellectual disability - Alex Goldsack, Joshua Walker, and Eryn Vesey have been recognised for their accomplishments. In the Parafed award, for athletes with a physical disability, Bay of Islands swimmer Daniel Gaualofa is the sole entry.

Meanwhile, Northland's top school-aged officials up for the inaugural award are Whangarei Girls' High School's Lucy Gardner-Lee and Anna Cresswell, Rodney College's Cory Nicholls (all for work within netball), and Huanui College's Dylan Codlin (hockey) have all been recognised.

From all code winners on the night, two awards for ASB Excellence - male and female - will be presented to students deemed to have the highest sporting achievement in a sport not offered at secondary school level. The ASB Sportswoman of the Year and Sportsman of the Year will be named from all code winners in recognised secondary school sport.

A total of 21 Northland Secondary Schools, from Kaitaia in the north to Wellsford in the south, are represented in the awards. These awards recognise the outstanding sporting achievements of students in recognised secondary school sport as well as those who have excelled in sport not offered at a secondary school level.

Last year, champion swimmer Raravula was the big winner in the ASB Secondary School Sports Awards as the Pompallier Catholic College student was named Sportswoman of the Year. Whangarei Boys High School's Mason Reed was named as the Sportsman of the Year.

Sport Northland's regional sports director Robyn Richards said that judging the winners of the top awards never gets any easier for the independent awards committee.

"Northland students seem to keep expanding the kinds of sports they achieve in," Richards said. "They are a very talented bunch of young people."

The awards evening will take place in the ASB Stadium on October 31. Finalists should order tickets for themselves and support people, through their respective schools. However, there is also an online order system available www.sportnorthland.co.nz