Miranda Shorebird advocate Keith Woodley has been named as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to shorebird conservation. Photo / Martin Sykes
Miranda Shorebird advocate Keith Woodley has been named as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to shorebird conservation. Photo / Martin Sykes
The Coromandel is home to a total of six new community champions, among those, a Silver Ferns coach, an activist, a Māori health leader and an iwi negotiator.
Former Silver Ferns coach and Paeroa local Ruth Aitken has become a dame for her services to netball.
Aitken was already an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, an honour she received in 2011. She is now a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Aitken coached the Silver Ferns from 2002 to 2011 - she is their most capped coach of all time, having coached the team for 112 tests.
Aitken told the HC Post it was "a real shock" to find out she was becoming a dame.
"I felt very humbled to have been acknowledged in this way, as there have been so many others that have contributed to the success of the Silver Ferns during my time."
During her time as coach, the Silver Ferns won the 2003 World Netball Championship and the 2006 and 2010 Commonwealth Games. They also came second at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and the 2007 and 2011 World Netball Championships.
She described the 2003 world championship win in Jamaica as the best memory of her career - it was the Ferns' first world championship after a 16-year drought.
She said the win was achieved with a "very special group of young women who had come through the previous disappointment of some heartbreaking one-goal losses, while still retaining the courage to try again".
Former Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken has been appointed as a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to netball. Photo / NZPA, David Rowland
After leaving the Silver Ferns, she served as the director of Netball Coaching New Zealand from 2011 to 2013.
She moved to Singapore in 2013 and coached their national team to victory at the Asian Championships and South-East Asian Games.
Aitken said a good coach is someone who "understands their own strengths and identifies the areas where they need further support", is "driven to help others achieve their best", "cares for the athletes as people first", and "knows when it's time to work hard and time to have fun".
She returned to New Zealand in 2016 and has been a member of the Sports Tribunal of New Zealand since 2017 and a life member of Netball New Zealand since 2021.
Looking back on her career so far, Aitken didn't think she would change anything.
"I think that all my various life experiences ... have provided me with wonderful learning opportunities and a great foundation for life.
"The benefits I have received from living in a small town with wonderful family and community support have been invaluable."
Aitken's message to those wanting to make a career like hers was clear: "whatever your passion – pursue it! If you love what you are doing, you will do your very best".
"It's amazing what can be achieved when no one cares who takes the credit."
Black Caps player Ross Taylor is now a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Photo / Duncan Brown
Also receiving an honour was Dr Miriam Saphira of Matatoki, who became a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the LGBTQIA+ community.
Saphira has been an advocate for marginalised communities for more than half a century.
As a member of Broadsheet Feminist Magazine, she has been highlighting gay and lesbian rights, domestic violence, sexual harassment and others. She was also an initial trustee of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation.
The executive council chambers say: "Dr Saphira was instrumental in starting conversations on taboo subjects such as incest, sexual abuse of children, prostitution and violence against women, researching and writing as a psychologist in the 1970s."
In 2007, Saphira established the first museum in New Zealand dedicated to lesbian culture, the Charlotte Museum. She remains its secretary.
Other new Waikato Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit include blood transfusion expert and alcohol harm awareness advocate Dr David Woodfield for his services to transfusion medicine, and internationally renowned cricket player Ross Taylor of Hamilton for services to cricket and Pacific communities.
Thames woman Denise Messiter has become an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to Māori and health.
Also, an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit is Bub (Hera) White of Raglan for her services to Māori and tertiary education.
Thames resident Walter (Wati) Ngamane was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and tourism.
He has been the chairman of the Ngāti Maru Runanga Trust since 1999, and is a trustee of the Matai Whetu Marae.
Ngamane was initially reluctant to accept the honour, because he said he knew "other people who deserved it more than me".
But after some time to think, he decided he would accept to bring honour to his family, including his wife Kath and his late sister Liane.
"Without them, I most likely wouldn't have done it [his work]. Without their support."
Ngamane has been a co-negotiator for Ngāti Maru on their Treaty settlement since 2009.
He said the experience of treaty negotiations has taught him "perseverance" and "pragmatism".
He is most proud of his work in education, including teaching at several schools throughout Hauraki.
New Zealand Rowing champ Emma Twigg is now a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Photo / Brett Phibbs
He described his own time as a student as "a bit of an ordeal from go to woah", and said he "always felt that we could make it [schooling] better for our kids".
"If you see something you think you can improve, don't be shy to get in there and do it."
Other new Waikato members of the New Zealand Order of Merit include Adrienne Dalton of Miranda for her services to conservation and youth, Manaia local Makareta Desai for her services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the community, Cambridge rowing champions Emma Twigg and Kerri Williams for their services to rowing and Miranda Shorebird advocate Keith Woodley for his services to shorebird conservation.
Hahei fireman Ian Carter was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for his services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the community. He is the chief fire officer of the Hahei station and is also trained as a lifeguard.
Carter established and maintains an ongoing working partnership between Fire and Emergency, local Surf Lifesaving and St John Ambulance and built a walking track through his farm to Cathedral Cove which provides a link from Whitianga to Hahei for walking tourists and emergency responders.
Other Waikato Queen's Service Medal recipients include Taumarunui historian and former Ruapehu District councillor Ron Cooke for his services to historical research, and University of Waikato lecturer William Anderson for services to Māori education and the community.
