Your community needs your vote

Wairarapa is a vibrant sporting community.
For a region our size we have more - much more than our share of successes on the international, national and domestic front, and now is the time to celebrate them.
Nominations have been called for the 2006-07 Wairarapa sports awards and by the time they close next Monday they should run well into double figures for each of the five cateogries?senior sports personality, junior sports personality, administrator, sports team and club.
The word "should" is used deliberately as history shows that some sports organisations within the Wairarapa are somewhat lax when it comes to promoting their own success stories.
It could be fairly argued that every single sports club here must have individuals or teams who deserve, at the very least, a nomination.
Sure, not all nominees can be included amongst the finalists but even just nominating them is a recognition that the organisations they represent take pride in their performances.
And if the clubs don't get off their butts to do it there is nothing to stop members of the public making their own nominations either.
It's just a matter of filling in the form being published on a regular basis in the Wairarapa Times-Age?simple as that!
It is important to note that changes have been made to the awards format from what has been the case in the past.
The club category is brand new and has been introduced so as to highlight the progress made by clubs in promoting their codes both on and off the field of play. Any club worth their salt should be pushing their own barrow with this one.
The administrative section has been part of the awards for some years now but rather than have it centre only on achievements registered over the past 12 months it now has no time limit in that respect.
That makes sense because the most valuable administrators are invariably those who have worked hard for their sports over a long number of years. And again just about every club has them.
There is a difference too in the time frame for the other four cateogries. To provide more equal opportunity for both winter and summer sporting organisations it has been changed to take in performances recorded between April 30 2006 and April 30 2007.
There will be more time too for the general public to cast their votes after the category finalists have been announced on March 1.
Official voting forms will be published in the Times-Age from then through until March 14 with the award winners being announced at a special function to be held at Solway Park in Masterton on March 21.
Just who those winners are could depend on YOUR nomination and YOUR vote Go for it!!!