Shearers hope to repeat win

Shearing Sports New Zealand is pleased all six members of their successful 2010 world championship team will be seeking similar results at the next worlds, to be held as part of the Golden Shears in Masterton in 2012.
Chairman John Fagan, who won a world teams title in England in 1984 and recalls the struggles for recognition in that era, was speaking after confirmation of two years of funding from Beef and Lamb New Zealand's allocation of the residual wool levies pool.
Chief operating officer Cros Spooner said last month that Shearing Sports New Zealand would receive $70,000 over the two years to foster competitions which, during the past 50 years, had become a major part of developing woolcrafts skills throughout the country.
Another sum has been committed to wool-classing.
That announcement came soon after Sparc had confirmed all six members of the SSNZA world championship side in Wales in July would receive Performance Enhancement grants as part of the high performance strategy which recognises the sacrifices made by elite athletes in achieving their international successes.
The Kiwis won medals in all six events, including three wins, Cam Ferguson in the individual shearing, Ferguson and David Fagan in the teams shearing and Sheree Alabaster and Keryn Herbert in the woolhandling teams event.
They, and the remaining team members, have already confirmed they will be contesting qualifying events leading to the selection of the New Zealand team for the next world championships in Masterton in 2012.
John Fagan said the chance of representing their country at the top level had become a major motivation for improvement among New Zealand shearers and woolhandlers.
"While we wouldn't want to be taking anything away from other sports, there is a number of countries where New Zealand is recognised as much by the singlets of our shearers as it is by the black jersey of the All Blacks," he said.