A sporting chance

Kamo High School students Megan Craig and Hannah Wilkinson are just two of the more than 180 Northland athletes looking forward to the Northland Secondary School Sports Awards on Friday.
Craig is one of the area's top basketballers and is one of six boys and girls nominated in the sport. The 2m (6ft6) centre has been earmarked as a player of promise, being named in the New Zealand under-17 women's training squad.
She is training hard to make the cut for selection into the team to go to Australia at the beginning of next year for the Australian Youth Olympics.
The 16-year-old is excited at the prospect and hopes to make the New Zealand women's team in time for the London Olympics in 2012.
She'll attend a camp in two weeks' time with the top 12 players selected to make the trip.
Wilkinson is one of seven footballers nominated for the awards.
She has had another golden year in football.
With 33 goals, she was the top-scorer for her North Force team in United Soccer One's premier division and took away the prize for the golden boot in the league.
Wilkinson also plays the indoor form of the game Futsal and was selected to join the Australian Vikings' team on a tour of Brazil - the home of the indoor game - next April.
The finalists for the sports awards were selected from a field of 220 nominees.
Once again, the standards are high with regional and national champions and a number of international competitors among the award finalists.
The job of final selection of winners is always difficult but it is a rewarding task to be selecting among such high achievers.
"Many of the past award recipients have gone on to full national honours, so it is good to recognise them first here," Sport Northland regional sports director Grant Harrison said.
The awards evening will be held at Genesis Energy Kensington Stadium in ASB Leisure Centre in Whangarei.
The evening will feature Northland Olympian Sam Warriner as the guest speaker and presenter.
The awards ceremony begins at 6.30pm.