Finalists named for sports awards

A total of 12 different sports are represented amongst the finalists confirmed today for the 2006-07 Wairarapa sports awards.
They have been chosen from a near record number of nominations and are contained in five cateogries...senior sports personality, junior sports personality, administrator, club and team.
It is the first time a Club of the Year section has been introduced, marking as it does the progress made by clubs or associations in promoting their activities both on and off the field of play.
Major sponsors of the awards are the Wairarapa Times-Age and a voting form will be published on a regular basis over the next fortnight to give the public a say as to who they think should be the respective winners. They will be announced at a special function to be held at Copthorne Hotel and Resort Solway Park on Wednesday, March 21.
Finalists are:
Senior sports personality
Bryce Baron: Baron has made a huge impact in the sport of kick boxing over the past 12 months. In that time he has become national cruiserweight champion, successfully defended his North Island cruiserweight title three times and also won the North Island supercruiser weight title and the national WMC eight-man championship...Baron represented New Zealand at the world championships in Thailand last year and is planning to fight for a South Pacific title in Australia in May.
Jesse Bucknell: Bucknell has been a leading light in triathlon, cycling, athletics and multi-sport. In triathlon his credits include being selected as a member of the Triathlon New Zealand Youth Academy and being a member of the New Zealand team which competed at the world championships in Switzerland. There he took 17th place in the highly competitive under-20 age group. He is the current leader in the under-20 section of the national triathlon series which ends in Wellington this month. In cycling he was first under-20 male in the Wellington criterion championships, in athletics he won the under-20 division of the Masterton club's winter series and in multisports he was first under-20 competitor in the Wellington Scorching Duathlon series.
Joe Harwood: Harwood's leadership skills were plainly evident throughout the 2006 rugby season. He led Wairarapa-Bush to win the inaugural Heartland competition after skippering Carterton to the senior first division club title. He was later named captain of the national divisional side which undertook a brief tour of Argentina.
Richard Mason: Mason won the 2006 Rally of New Zealand despite his Subaru Impreza being positively aged by rallying standards and his budget being substantially lower than most of his rivals. He also placed second in the production world championship class and 10th overall at an event raced in the Waikato and tasted success when competing for GT Tires team in the Asia Pacific rally in China. Other accolades over the past 12 months for him and co-driver Sara Randall included being voted Rally Driver of the Year at the inaugural New Zealand Automative Awards.
Junior sports personality of the year
Henry Booth: Booth won the national champion supreme pony (over 128cm) class on Tamsweg Royal Mascot at the New Zealand horse and pony championships in what was the first competition for his pony. He also won the junior equestrian equitation championship.
Stevie Paine: Paine has been dominant figure in age group athletics, dominating middle distance events all around the country. She won gold medals at both the North and South Island Colgate Games and at the Wellington championships.
Katrina Simmonds: Simmonds was in superb form at the national junior swimming championships, having the fourth best time in the 200m backstroke and the sixth best in the 200m freestyle. She was second in the central region in the 200m backstroke and first in the 200m freestyle.
Arnon Tapp: Tapp was selected for a Coerver soccer coaching tour to the United Kingdom which included coaching sessions at Liverpool and Glasgow. He has been part of a Capital Soccer international player development programme and has played for Wairarapa United in the under-11 grade and also the intermediate grade, where players were older and nearly twice his size.
Administrator of the year
Ian Campbell: Campbell has been an integral part of the Masterton Tennis Centre over a long number of years, holding down the position of treasurer from 1995 to 1998, secretary in 2002 and taking over the presidency in 2004, a position he still holds. He has supervised the staging of several tournaments, including the very popular veterans tourney and the equally popular business house competition, and ensures that maintenance work is up to scratch and the surrounds are kept in top order
Tony Nixon: Nixon achieved the almost impossible dream when he coached Giants to win their first ever Hutt Valley premier division men's title, the first time a team from the outside the Hutt Valley had achieved such a feat. They also made the top six of the Inter-City series which involves the top club sides in two of the country's strongest softballing provinces, Hutt Valley and Wellington.
Peter Russell: Russell ended his stint as selector-coach of the Wairarapa-Bush rugby side on the highest possible note, taking them to the Heartland championship title after winning the NPC third division series the season before. He was also named as assistant coach of the national divisional side which toured Argentina.
Andy Thackray: Thackray is one of the highest-ranked basketball referees in New Zealand and over the past 12 months has controlled matches involving both the Tall Ferns and the Tall Blacks. He also travelled overseas with the Tall Blacks and was chosen on the referee's panel for the Australian NBL.
Sports team of the year
Dalefield women's hockey team: Dalefield were the runners-up in the Wellington premier division women's hockey competition. They beat the powerful University side 1-0 in the semi-finals before losing 3-1 to Eastern Hutt in the decider. A number of their players were included in the Wellington senior women's team..
Giants men's softball team: Giants caused one of the sporting upsets of the year when they toppled hot favourites Hutt City United in the final of the Hutt Valley premier men's competition, the first time a team from outside the Hutt had claimed that title. They also made the top six of the Inter-City series and performed well at major tourneys throughout the country.
Wairarapa-Bush rugby team: Wairarapa-Bush became the inaugural winners of the Heartland championship rugby title, beating top seeds Wanganui on their home track in the final. Seven of the players were later named in the national divisional side which toured Argentina.
Wairarapa under-15 boys hockey team: The Wairarapa under-15 boys hockey team produced a stunning effort to finish second at their tourney at North Harbour. They beat highly-ranked sides in North Harbour and Canterbury on the way to the grand final where they were beaten 4-1 by Auckland after tailing by just the one goal 15 minutes into the second half.
Sports club of the year
Dalefield hockey club: Dalefield is the biggest hockey club in the Wairarapa and in 2006 fielded eight junior, five social and two premier sides. They are the only Wairarapa club which fields teams in the Wellington premier inter-club men's and women's competitions, and develop many of the province's best young talent by including them in those sides. Dalefield made the final of the Wellington women's series last season, after winning the title in 2002 and 2004.
Giants softball club: Giants celebrated 40 years of existence this year and is the only surviving softball club in the Wairarapa. They field three senior and one junior team and administrate and officiate intermediate grade softball in the local area through a Friday night league. Their premier men's team won the Hutt Valley competition for 2006 and a number of their players have competed at top provincial level.
Masterton Red Star JAB rugby: Masterton Red Star JAB increased player numbers by 90 per cent last year, going from 85 players to 151 players. And they tasted considerable success, winning two grades as well as picking up a second, four thirds and a fifth. They also raised finances to take over 100 players and 40 parents on a trip to Te Papa and Westpac Stadium.
Wairarapa cricket umpires association: The Wairarapa Cricket Umpires Association is a small organisation with only six active members but three of them - Johann Fourie, Mark Elliott and Chris Cogdale are ranked on the Central Districts A panel and regularly umpire at Hawke Cup level. Two others, Brian Campbell and David Lee, were included in the CD umpires development squad while Fourie is the CD umpires regional training officer and Cogdale the CD appointments officer. The Wairarapa association is undoubtedly the strongest organisation of its type in the CD and there would be fewer - for their size - stronger in NZ as well.