Waka ama: Cash boosts medal chances

Waka ama rising star Dylan Taute is one of eight Rotorua athletes and coaches to receive a BayTrust Scholarship from Sport Bay of Plenty.

Taute, a 17-year-old Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Ruamata student, has been competing in waka ama for 10 years and this year won the New Zealand under-19 boys single waka 500m title. He is now training towards August's World Championships in Calgary, where he is aiming for a gold medal.

Sport Bay of Plenty coaching team leader Dave Clarke said it was not the first time the long-running scholarship has been awarded to a waka ama competitor.

"Waka ama as a sport is very strong regionally and the number of participants is higher than most people think," he said.

The athlete scholarships were open to sports people aged 16-23 who had achieved national representation in their chosen sport. Applicants for the coaching scholarships had to be currently coaching at a recognised level.

Both athletes and coaches had to specify what they would do with the money, which in most cases went toward international competition or further development.

Recipients were awarded between $500 and $2000 each, with BayTrust donating a total of $45,000.

One of the nine coaches to receive funding was Western Heights High School volleyball coach and teacher Eugene Bogun. His scholarship paid for him to attend a three-day international volleyball coaching course in Palmerston North last weekend.

Bogun said it was great to receive the funding for the course, which included inspirational presentations from former world class players.

"I'm always looking for extra coaching courses but they're not cheap," he said. "It was awesome, I have taken away heaps of good ideas."

Bogun will coach the North Island secondary schools boys side, which includes seven Western Heights players, in a Christchurch tournament next month.

Reflecting the strength of the sport in the region, four Rotorua mountain bikers have been awarded athlete scholarships, including Samara Sheppard who last week finished third at an under-23 World Cup event in France. Last year's Bay of Plenty Sportswoman of the Year Katherine O'Neill, Samuel Shaw and Carl Jones rounded out the cross-country mountain bikers while London Olympics-bound canoeist Luuka Jones also received funding.

Canoe slalom coach Aaron Osborne will put his award towards travelling to Europe to work with international coaches. The New Zealand junior development team and Cook Island Olympic coach is keen to pass on the knowledge he learns to other coaches within the region.

Successful Opotiki tae kwon do instructor Waimariea Sullivan has also been awarded funding to continue her work helping students on to the world stage.

Clarke said the demand for the scholarships, awarded twice a year, had grown over the past few years and they now received 40-45 high quality applications from athletes and 10-20 from coaches.

The decision process included an interview with BayTrust trustees to ensure that all applicants were worthy recipients, on and off the playing field.

"We see great people in front of us and we see the fantastic things that young people are doing," said Clarke.

BayTrust Athlete Scholarship winners: Ben Grindrod, Tauranga (squash); Ben Gibb, Tauranga (canoe slalom); Beniece Douch, Tauranga (beach volleyball); Carl Jones, Rotorua (cross-country mountain biking); Cole O'Connor-Stratton, Mount Maunganui (canoe slalom); Dylan Taute, Rotorua (waka ama); James Cooper, Papamoa (squash); Joe Carter, Tauranga (cricket); Katherine O'Neill, Rotorua (cross-country mountain biking); Kodi Harman, Papamoa (athletics/surf lifesaving); Luuka Jones, Rotorua (canoe slalom K1W); Sam Durrant, Papamoa (triathlon/multisport); Samara Sheppard, Rotorua (cross-country mountain biking); Samuel Shaw, Rotorua (cross-country mountain biking).

Coach Scholarship winners:Aaron Osborne, Rotorua (canoe slalom); Basketball Bay of Plenty (Byron Vaetoe and Tim Ebeling), Tauranga (basketball); Eugene Bogun, Rotorua (volleyball); Jenny Kirk, Tauranga (volleyball); Mike Walls, Tauranga (squash); Tauranga City Basketball (16 coaches), Tauranga (Basketball); Waimariea Sullivan, Opotiki (tae kwon do).