KEY POINTS:
The evolution sport has undergone in the past 40 years was aptly demonstrated at this year's New Zealand Herald Junior Sports Awards presentations yesterday.
Two of this year's winners, Katherine Prumm and Rebecca Spence, were recognised in sports which were still some years off the radar when swimmer
Glenda Stirling, skier Margot Blakely, soccer player Brian Turner and rugby's Lawrie Knight and Peter Hughes were acknowledged as the first recipients in 1967.
Prumm (motocross) and Spence (multisport) are caught up in the new wave of international sporting success enjoyed by New Zealand's sporting best.
They were joined as winners in the class of 2006 by young yachting stars Peter Burling and Carl Evans - the first joint winners to be recognised by the awards - rising rowing star Emma Twigg, and Jessica McCormack (basketball).
The judges, Olympic swimmer Alison Fitch, former hockey international David Appleby, Mike Stanley, Julie Meyer - from the awards co-sponsors, the Millennium Institute of Sport and Health - and Herald sports editor Chris Allen, were again handed the unenviable task of finding five winners from the 50 applications.
The size of the task was further reflected when they highly commended Simon Child (hockey), Natalie Wiegersma (swimming) and golfer Danny Lee - all internationals.
Another reflection of the advances made in sport across the board was the number of absentees at the Millennium Institute-hosted function.
Burling and Evans are in Napier for the North Island 470 championships, Twigg is at Lake Ruataniwha for the national rowing championships and Child and Lee are competing in Australia.
Over forthcoming months there will be an almost mass exodus of those recognised by the Herald - which gave them $1500 training grants, engraved medallions, framed certificates and products from the award sponsors.
Spence is off to Australia next week for vital triathlon races and will later return to Europe in pursuit of her ambitious plan to represent New Zealand in triathlon and cycling (road time trial) at next year's Olympics.
"I have to finish well up in the Australian [Olympic distance] tri champs to get enough points to get into World Cup races in Mooloolaba and Japan," said Spence.
She admits spreading her talent across the two disciplines is a challenge - but one she is looking forward to.
The only downside is attempting it without hands-on assistance from her Sydney-based coach Brendan Downey.
"That is a huge issue," Spence said. "But there is no one coach here I feel could do the job."
McCormack takes up a scholarship at the University of Washington in July and is awaiting the appointment of the new Tall Ferns coach before mapping out the rest of her year.
Prumm faces regular transtasman crossings as she contests the four-round Australian motocross championship before heading to Germany in May to begin the defence of her world title.
Burling and Evans head to Europe in June for a series of regattas aimed at qualifying the 470 class for the Beijing Olympics. Unlike most award winners, they must also juggle time on the water with their school work and the distance they must travel to train together.
Evans lives in Auckland, Burling, the second-youngest award winner, in Tauranga.
Twigg, too, faces another busy year here and overseas as she aims for the coveted single sculls spot in the New Zealand Olympic team.
In making the presentations, 1968 award winner and 1982 Commonwealth Games badminton medallist Robin Denton paid tribute to the work done by all those recognised.
The Herald also made a special presentation to founding judge Yvette Corlett, who has stepped aside for health reasons.