A sporting wrap of the New Year 2026 Honours List, including athletes, coaches and administrators across motorsport, rowing, netball, cricket, athletics, lawn bowls, rugby and rugby league.
Sir Scott Dixon, knight companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM)
For services to motorsport
Scott Dixon is New Zealand’s most successful modern motorsport champion and has continued to compete since being made a companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2019. Dixon has competed for Chip Ganassi Racing Teams (CGRT) since 2001, the longest tenure for a driver in the team’s history. He claimed his sixth IndyCar Series championship and his fourth 24 Hours of Daytona victory with Wayne Taylor Racing, both in 2020. Of currently active IndyCar drivers, he holds the distinction of having the most wins with 59 victories, and following his second-place finish at the Milwaukee Mile 250s in 2024, he took the record of most career IndyCar podiums with 142. Notably, earlier in his career, he won the Indianapolis 500 in 2008, the largest one-day sporting event in the world. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in March 2024. Dixon is an ambassador for CanTeen, St Jude and Teen Cancer America.
Rod Dixon, officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM)
For services to athletics
Rod Dixon has represented New Zealand in athletics and long-distance running internationally and has promoted physical activity, health, and wellness for young people.
Dixon represented New Zealand from 1971 to 1996, and is a four-time Olympian, showcasing versatility and endurance across middle- and long-distance events. He achieved a bronze medal in the 1500m at the 1972 Olympic Games, followed by fourth-place finishes in the 5000m at the 1976 Olympics, and the 1974 Commonwealth Games. He achieved a bronze medal at the 1973 and 1982 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and a landmark victory at the 1983 New York City Marathon. He remains the only athlete in history to have medalled in the Olympic 1500m and won the New York Marathon. He founded KidsMarathon Foundation in 1990, an educational running and nutrition programme that has been implemented in schools nationally and internationally, impacting more than 1.5 million students worldwide. He was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1996 and the United States RRCA Distance Running Hall of Fame. From 1988 to 2000, Dixon was a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador, promoting child rights and welfare on a global scale, and since 2005 has been patron and inclusion ambassador for Special Olympics, Leukaemia Team in Training and Achilles New Zealand.
Lorraine Moller, officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM)
For services to athletics
Lorraine Moller competed internationally from 1973 to 1996 as a track, cross-country and marathon runner while advocating for women’s equity and professionalism in sport.
Moller was the world’s top women’s master road racer in 1995 and 1996 and, at 41, the oldest woman to compete in the 1996 Olympic marathon, uniquely completing all 20th-century Olympic marathons. Over her career, she won 16 international marathons, including the Boston Marathon, an Olympic bronze medal, and Commonwealth Games silver and two bronzes. She holds an eight-marathon maiden win streak and remains undefeated as a masters runner. She still holds the New Zealand 50km record (1981), and the under-20 800m record she set in 1974 was broken only this month. From 1997 to 2005, she founded and coached the Wings of Mercury running team in Colorado. She was vice-president of the Japan-based Hearts of Gold Foundation, which founded the 1996 Angkor Wat Half Marathon, fundraising for prosthetics for landmine victims. She spearheaded a programme reinstating physical education in Cambodian schools post-Pol Pot. In 1997, she established GoldQuest, a mental and social skills conference for New Zealand Olympic athletes. She co-founded the Lydiard Foundation in 2008, which promotes fitness through Arthur Lydiard’s running methods, serving as president since 2012 and creating coaching certification courses preserving the method globally. Moller has collaborated with KidsMarathon Foundation to enhance children’s fitness.
Val Smith, officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM)
For services to outdoor bowls
Val Smith is New Zealand’s most internationally capped outdoor bowls athlete, playing 667 games for New Zealand.
Smith joined the Nelson Bowling Club in 1992 and has been a member of the Blackjacks representing New Zealand in lawn bowls since 2003. Her career in bowls is decorated with two World Championship titles and a total of nine World Championship medals. She has participated in five Commonwealth Games, winning one silver and three bronze medals. She has won the National Open Bowls Championship multiple times. She retired from international competition in early 2025, and continues to play across national, provincial and club levels. She was the New Zealand Player of the Year in 2021, was a finalist in the Halberg Sportswoman of the Year in 2008, and has been twice awarded Nelson Sportsperson of the Year. She was a driving force behind creating and then running Bowls New Zealand’s Player Leadership Group within the high-performance framework. She is one of Bowls New Zealand’s few performance coaches, holding the highest level of coaching certification within the organisation. Smith has also represented New Zealand Football at Under 21 and B level, and Nelson at a regional level in football, hockey, indoor hockey, cricket, indoor cricket, softball and touch rugby.
Eroni Clarke, member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM)
For services to the Pacific community and rugby
Eroni Clarke played rugby professionally for 15 years and has since made significant contributions to Pacific leadership and mental health services.
Clarke played for the All Blacks, the Samoan Barbarians, Auckland, Counties, the Blues and Highlanders. He is on the Blues and Auckland Rugby honours board and is the former president of Auckland Rugby Union. He was on the South African, New Zealand and Australian Rugby (Sanzaar) judicial panel from 2010 to 2020 and the World Rugby judicial panel from 2018 to 2020. He was a life coach and mentor with the International Rugby Academy of New Zealand and a Pacific addictions counsellor at Tupu Waitematā District Health Board. As the first Pasifika engagement manager at New Zealand Rugby (NZR), he led the development of the NZR Pasifika Strategy 2024-2029, established the NZR Pasifika Advisory Group Tausoa Fa’atasi, delivered cultural competency training nationally and facilitated Pasifika governance training programmes. He helped establish The Village Community Services Trust for marginalised Pacific and Māori youth. With Le Va, he was influential in the delivery of Engaging Pasifika, the inaugural government-mandated cultural competency training programme for health workers, and Le Tautua, the national Pacific mental health leadership programme. Clarke is a Christmas Box Ambassador, delivering food to people in need across New Zealand and the Cook Islands.
Martin Guptill, member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM)
For services to cricket
Martin Guptill is a former New Zealand international cricketer who has been one of New Zealand’s foremost limited-overs cricketers for almost 20 years, and is the Black Caps’ all-time highest run-scorer in T20 International matches with 3531 runs.
Guptill made his New Zealand debut in all three formats in 2009, and was the mainstay of the Black Caps batting line-up in international One Day and T20 matches until 2022. He has represented New Zealand in 11 Cricket World Cup events, one at Under-19 level, three ICC ODI World Cups and seven ICC T20 World Cups. He played 367 matches for the Black Caps across all formats. He is the first New Zealander to score a century on One Day International debut, and the only New Zealander to score a double-century with 237 not out in a One Day International, which remains the highest score made in a World Cup match, and the second-highest score made in any One Day International match. He has represented Auckland in New Zealand domestic competitions since debuting in first-class cricket in 2006, and competed for various T20 teams in the Indian, Caribbean, Pakistan, and Australian Super Leagues, and teams in English County Cricket. Guptill is a long-term member of the Suburbs New Lynn Cricket Club.
Judith Hamilton, officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM)
For services to rowing
Judith Hamilton is an award-winning rower and ground-breaking leader who has been an integral part of New Zealand’s international rowing successes over the past 20 years.
Hamilton rowed successfully with Rowing New Zealand in the 1990s before becoming a coach, volunteering countless hours to coaching her medal-winning crews while also working fulltime. In 1995, she was appointed lead coach of the New Zealand Junior Rowing Team and attended the world championships in Poland, soon becoming Rowing New Zealand’s first female coach at an elite level. In 2005, she became a regional coach at Bay of Plenty Rowing, providing opportunities for junior rowers and focusing on coach development and talent identification. She received the 2011 Prime Minister’s High-Performance Scholarship to study the United States Collegiate rowing system, leading to greater international educational opportunities for athletes. In 2018, she became the first female high-performance director at Rowing New Zealand, launching the three-year career coach development programme and ensuring that the programme was able to accommodate athletes who took time out to become parents. Under Hamilton’s leadership, the Tokyo Olympic Games were Rowing New Zealand’s most successful Olympics ever, with New Zealand becoming the top-ranking rowing nation in the world.
Greg Barclay, companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM)
For services to sports governance
Greg Barclay has held influential roles in sports administration and governance since the 2000s and was the independent chairperson of the International Cricket Council (ICC) from 2020 to 2024. Barclay was chairman of Northern Districts Cricket before being appointed to the New Zealand Cricket Board in 2012, becoming chair in 2016. He was a board member for the 2015 Cricket World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. He played a pivotal role in strengthening these organisations during their own periods of change, delivering sustainable business practices, and leading the implementation of new organisational strategies. He was appointed as the New Zealand representative to the ICC board of directors in 2014, before being elected chair in 2020. He helped bring the ICC together again at governance and management level, and oversaw the most lucrative broadcasting agreement in cricket’s history. He has promoted gender equity in world cricket across increasing female participation and competitions and greater representation of women in governance positions. He founded Capital Events (now The Experience Group), the official corporate hospitality provider to many rights holder organisations in New Zealand and has been operating official corporate hospitality programmes since 1999, including All Blacks hospitality from 2005 to 2024, America’s Cup, Lions Tours to New Zealand, and various Cricket and Rugby League World Cups. Barclay in 2025 became a board member of New Zealand Rugby.
Tony Quinn, companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM)
For services to motorsport and the community
Tony Quinn has profoundly transformed New Zealand motorsport since 2012 through his investments and expertise.
Quinn’s development of the world-class Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell, opened in 2013, revolutionised the motorsport sector. He then acquired and upgraded Hampton Downs Motorsport Park in 2015 and Taupō International Motorsport Park in 2021. These facilities have delivered substantial regional benefits, including jobs, tourism, events, and economic growth. He was instrumental in securing the Australian Supercars Championship’s return to New Zealand in 2024, with a three-year deal at Taupō. In 2021, he established the Tony Quinn Foundation and Hampton Downs New Zealand Racing Academy, nurturing young talent to succeed on the world stage, with Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson being the first to benefit from the foundation. Quinn is heavily involved in Cromwell community initiatives, including funding mental health workshops and a school social worker in 2022, and a $750,000 investment in 2024 to revive the Street Smart defensive driving programme, enhancing road safety for learner drivers in New Zealand.
Brian Davies, officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM)
For services to motorsport
Brian Davies has contributed to motorsport for 60 years and remains involved with the Manawatū motorsport community as a car enthusiast.
As a member of the Manawatū Car Club since 1964, Davies has held various roles, including as assistant clerk of the course of the Manfeild Racetrack Circuit since its inception in 1973. He has been the clerk of the course for the Wellington Street Race and race meetings held in Taupō, Pukekohe and Cromwell since the 1980s. As clerk, he is the designated official who holds responsibility of conduct and control of each event. Since 1986, he has served as chief steward of Motorsport New Zealand, responsible for enforcing the National Sporting Code, rules and regulations, and governance of meetings and events. He was appointed by the Federation Internationale del I’Automobile as the Official Observer in 1995. Davies has been patron of the Manawatū Car Club since 2019 and was inducted into Motorsport New Zealand’s Honours Roll in 2023.
Iain Potter, officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM)
For services to sport and health
Iain Potter was chief executive of Basketball New Zealand (BBNZ) from 2012 to 2021, overseeing significant change.
Potter led BBNZ from a place of insolvency to a sustainable and high-achieving national sporting organisation, advocated for women basketballers and equal funding for national teams, chaired the National Basketball League (NBL) from 2012 to have an increased presence and community impact, preserved basketball history through the Basketball Foundation, and drove community participation. He was a catalyst of the Aspiration Fund at High Performance Sport New Zealand. Under his leadership, BBNZ was recognised with the International Basketball Federation’s President’s Award for its positive impact on basketball. He was chief executive of the Health Sponsorship Council from 1992 to 2012. He was a driving advocate behind the legislation that removed tobacco industry sponsorship and commercial investments from sport and the hospitality industry. He oversaw health initiatives for Māori, including the establishment of Auahi Kore (Smokefree Māori) and He Oranga Poutama. He has volunteered on the board of Wellington Rugby Football Union for six years and became board chair of Hurricanes Rugby in 2019. Potter is chair of Wellington Marist St Pat’s Rugby Club, having held volunteer roles in the club over 20 years.
Shirley Hooper, officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM)
For services to netball and artistic swimming
Shirley Hooper has contributed to netball over 50 years, with roles as a player, umpire, sponsor, broadcaster, board member and chairperson.
Since 2007, Hooper has held key leadership roles, including chair of Netball Auckland-Waitākere, Greater Auckland Netball (owner of the Northern Mystics), and Trans-Tasman Netball Ltd, which oversaw the ANZ Championship. From 2009 to 2018, she was a director on the Netball New Zealand Board.. She has been a director of World Netball since 2017, serving as chair of the Commercial Committee and a member of the Foundation Strategy Group. In 2021, she was elected vice-president of World Netball, placing her at the forefront of global efforts to grow the sport across 75 countries and more than 20 million participants. Alongside netball, she has been heavily involved in artistic swimming, the smallest women’s participation sport in New Zealand. She was chair of the Tauranga Synchro Club until 2011, when she took over as chair of Artistic Swimming New Zealand until 2023. She has championed the sport’s growth, inclusivity, and visibility, and her leadership has been instrumental in lifting professional standards in the sport. Hooper was made a life member of both Netball New Zealand and Artistic Swimming New Zealand in 2022.
Malcolm McKee, member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM)
For services to sport
Malcom McKee has volunteered as a sporting and community administrator at community and national levels for more than 30 years.
McKee has contributed to a wide variety of sports and other community clubs, all on a voluntary basis. In addition to roles as board member and treasurer, he has served as the chairman or president for 17 groups including the Waikaia Domain Board for more than 22 years, Show Jumping New Zealand for six years, and Southland Country Rugby Club for seven years. I He has volunteered his time as an Equestrian Sports New Zealand show jumping judge for 29 years. In 2011, he gained international accreditation and has officiated at 21 FEI World Cup Competitions, the highest level of competition and part of the World Championship and Olympic Games qualifying system. He was a member of the Waikaia Volunteer Brigade for 26 years, serving as the deputy chief fire officer from 2005 to 2006. His involvement in the rugby community has seen him act as the Northern Southland junior and senior rugby delegate for more than 30 years, coach junior rugby for 11 years, and he sat on the Rugby Southland Board selection panel for more than 14 years.
Jenny Nahu, member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM)
For services to rugby league
Jenny Nahu has been involved with rugby league since the 1960s.
Nahu has influenced the culture and sustainability of rugby league in Rotorua and the Bay of Plenty region. She has held executive roles with the Ngongotahā Rugby League Club for 55 years and Bay of Plenty District Rugby League for 40 years. She helped persuade Rotorua District Council to develop six fields of new rugby league grounds on the east side of Rotorua City. She secured the first club base in the Rotorua community for rugby league some 10 years later, a facility that is also used by several other community organisations. She led the transformation of Puketāwhero Park into the central hub for rugby league in Rotorua, including project management and building development. She was involved with the relocation of the Carlaw Park administration building, gifted by Auckland Rugby League and then transported to Puketāwhero Park in Rotorua. She continues to serve as the park’s property manager. She has established rugby league as a vehicle for mentorship, youth engagement and community pride, nurturing generations of young people on and off the field, particularly Māori and Pacific youth. Nahu is a life member of the Ngongotahā and Bay of Plenty rugby league clubs.
Gary Whittle, member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM)
For services to rugby league
Gary Whittle has been involved with rugby league for more than 65 years, in roles spanning referee, touch judge, ground announcer, timekeeper and administrator in Northland, Waikato and Auckland.
Whittle was appointed timekeeper for Warriors games in New Zealand in 1995, initially beginning as a volunteer, and has since been the timekeeper for more than 500 games. He has volunteered in a range of other roles to ensure many rugby league events could be staged, and to help maintain rugby league’s high standards and reputation. He has been a member of the Auckland Rugby League judicial committee since 1981 and is serving his second term as chair. He has served on a range of committees for the Auckland Rugby League Referees Association, including the annual Gold Medal Awards for more than 10 years. He was the ground announcer at Carlaw Park for Auckland Rugby League for 15 years. He has been a director of the Rugby League Museum Society since 2009. He chaired Auckland Police Rugby League from 1985 to 1992. Whittle is a life member of the Auckland Rugby League Referees Association and of Auckland Rugby League since 2008, and was recognised with a Distinguished Service Award from New Zealand Rugby League in 2000.