The Waikato Treasure Chests Dragon Boat Team has been nominated in the category Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion. Photo / Supplied
The Waikato Treasure Chests Dragon Boat Team has been nominated in the category Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion. Photo / Supplied
You won't find many elite athletes among the Waikato Sport & Active Recreation Awards finalists this year, but you will find some pretty incredible community coaches, unsung heroes and amazing initiatives that are growing community participation in sports.
The annual awards encourage nominations from those in the Waikato community who go above and beyond to deliver programmes and initiatives that help create a more active region.
For the seven award categories, the award organiser Sport Waikato received a total of 100 nominations from across the whole Waikato.
Among this year's finalists are some really innovative initiatives like Tokoroa-based Axilia Tricking, a mixture of martial arts, gymnastics, capoeira and break-dancing, which is nominated in the Commitment to Youth Engagement category.
Sport Waikato CEO Matthew Cooper says the organisation has been "overwhelmed" with an outstanding number of nominations.
"It's coming through loud and clear that the voice of the participant matters more than ever now – with initiatives, coaches and unsung heroes all working to ensure that they cater to the needs of the people and ensure they have a great experience. This is key to keep people coming back and creating a lifelong love of being active."
Nominations have been judged by disability sport adviser and Sky Sport presenter Honey Hireme-Smiler, commentator and radio broadcaster Graeme 'Mintie' Mead and Waikato River Trails general manager Glyn Wooller.
The judges say this year's nominations were difficult to judge.
"There were so many worthy of top placings for the incredible work they do around the region."
Sport Waikato chief executive Matthew Cooper. Photo / Supplied
Another deserving finalist is the Hamilton-based Waikato Treasure Chests Dragon Boat Team, a dragon boat team of breast cancer survivors and supporters which are in for the Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion award.
As in previous years, there is also a large number of outstanding coaches nominated in the Community Coach category, with two finalists from Hamilton, Shervan Heu (Melville Intermediate) and Sandy Schaare (Parafed Waikato), along with Thames Gymsport's Janet Michewski.
Janet's nomination says she "supports all the gymnasts to have a go, to achieve their goals and to have fun and be active. Janet upholds our club's commitment to being inclusive, aiming to inspire, develop and challenge kids of all ages and skill levels."
The Commitment to Youth Engagement category was flooded with entries, but Parafed Waikato Youth Group (Hamilton), Te Awamutu Boxing Academy and Axilia Tricking from South Waikato made it to the finals.
Community Unsung Heroes was also a popular category this year, with all three nominees hailing from various parts of the Waipā district.
Andrew Langman (athletics), Kerry Rennie (netball) and Sean Stringfellow (football) are the finalists in this category with Rennie's nomination saying "the culture within Cambridge netball has changed for the better with one of Kerry's main goals being to create inclusiveness within the local community and increase participation numbers".
Kerry Rennie (with the orange hat) from Cambridge Netball Centre has been nominated in the Community Unsung Hero category. Photo / Supplied
"This has resulted in teams participating within the Year 0-8 Future Ferns programme through to secondary schools and Open Premier level representative netball."
The seven award categories are Community Connection, Sport and Active Recreation Partnership, Outstanding Active Space Initiative, Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion, Community Unsung Hero, Community Coach and Commitment to Youth Engagement.
The Community Connection award is for people or organisations that develop programmes which create connection and a great experience for its members or participants.
The Sport & Active Recreation Partnership award is for two or more organisations working together to achieve a physical activity outcome goal and the Outstanding Active Space Initiative is for any programme or initiative that's held in a space like community halls, parks, gullies, rivers.
The Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion award is for sport programmes or initiatives that are aimed at women, disabled or ethnic minority groups, or cultural and religious groups.
The Community Unsung Hero award is for unpaid volunteers that made a real difference in the last 12 months to an initiative or organisation while the Community Coach award is for a coach who creates a positive team culture, provides a great experience, encourages fair play and commitment to good sports principles.
The Commitment to Youth Engagement award is for people or programmes that support and help to grow the numbers of young people being more active.
The awards format aligns with Sport Waikato's partnered strategy, Moving Waikato, and the shift to working to support the capability of those who influence play, active recreation and sport in our region.
The wider aim is to grow participation in sports activities to at least 75 per cent by 2030.
The Waikato Sport Award categories and finalists are:
● Community Connection - ConnectEd Dance Co. Community Dance Classes (Hamilton) - First Kicks Expleo Program - He Waka Eke Noa (Te Awamutu AFC, Waipā) - Whitianga Skate School (Thames Coromandel)
● Sport & Active Recreation Partnership - Get Waikato Swimming/Life Jacket Hub (Swimming Waikato, Hamilton) - Te Pae Here Kaahui Ako Trailer Initiative (Hamilton) - Forming a balanced partnership – Youth Football Hillcrest (Unicol and Hillcrest High School, Hamilton)
● Outstanding Active Space Initiative - Ride Coromandel Bike Park (Spirit of Coromandel Trust, Thames Coromandel) - SuperSmash Hubs (Northern Districts Cricket Association, Hamilton) - Youthtown's Waikato Cycling Education Project – Expansion Initiative (Hamilton)
● Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion - Into Nature School (Waipā) - Wahine Toa Secondary School Program (King Country Rugby Union, Taupō) - Waikato Treasure Chests Dragon Boat Team (Hamilton)
● Community Unsung Hero - Andrew Langman (Cambridge Athletic and Harriers Club, Waipā) - Kerry Rennie (Cambridge Netball Centre, Waipā) - Sean Stringfellow (Te Awamutu AFC, Waipā)
