Netball commitment and achievements awarded in the Waikato Bay of Plenty Zone

The Netball Waikato Bay of Plenty and Splice Construction Magic Awards took place last night at SkyCity Hamilton.

The evening was a true celebration of Netball in the Community, Talent Pathway Programme and High Performance throughout the Waikato Bay of Plenty Zone.

With a full house of 350 people travelling far and wide to be in attendance, the night was enjoyed by all, with some outstanding successes, achievements and commitment to our sport recognised.

Congratulations to all of the finalists and the following winners:

Hawaiian Airlines Volunteer of the Year

• Steve McKain (Paeroa Netball Centre) - Steve is the Maintenance Officer, Canteen Person, plus anything else that needs doing, which can include mowing lawns, weeding the gutters, painting the building etc. He is involved in every aspect of the running of the Centre and works tirelessly all year round.

Kukri Administrator of the Year

• Jo Martin (Taupo Netball Centre) - Jo is a current TNC Member, Junior Coordinator, futureFERNS Coordinator and Year 8 Rep Manager. Jo does the work of at least four volunteers and is incredibly reliable and thorough and remains positive and forward thinking to ensure TNC is offering the most it can to all members.

Rothbury Insurance Brokers Community Coach of the Year

• Helena Hoult (Mount Maunganui College /Harbourside Netball Centre) - Helena is involved in coaching at Mount Maunganui College Premier 1 who are currently top 4 in their local competition, and the Harbourside U17 who finished 16^th out of 40 teams at NZ Nationals. She is a motivated coach and plays a significant part in helping players to develop themselves. Helena has worked very hard over the past two seasons to make a difference, and her determination, skill base and passion will continue to grow the success of players and coaches in the Bay.

USL Sport Healthcare School Team of the Year

• Hamilton Girls High School - The Premier Team finished 5^th at UNISS in 2018, going on to qualify and finish 7^th at NZ Secondary School Nationals. One player being named in the A Grade UNISS Tournament team, with that same player being named shooter of the Tournament at NZSS Nationals. One player was named in the 2019 Beko team, with four others in the Level 2 Zone Performance Pathway Squad.

Lodge Real Estate School Programme of the Year

• St Peters School, Cambridge - With strong programmes for Umpire Development (36 student umpires), Coach Development (11 student coaches), Player Development and our Netball Academy (70 students involved), Netball is alive and kicking. By providing and ensuring we are offering pathways in every aspect of netball, we have found the interest from students to stay involved in the sport has increased.

Gallagher Umpire/Official of the Year

• Ceri Hills (Cambridge Netball Centre) - Ceri is a huge asset to not only Cambridge Netball Centre, but also the wider community including Hamilton and WBOP. She not only Umpires Premier Club Comp on a Thursday in Hamilton, but also Wednesdays in the Premier Competition in Cambridge, and grassroots netball on a Saturday. Ceri was selected to officiate at the NNZ Under 19 Tournament where she was selected to Umpire the 5^th v 6^th playoff which is a great achievement. She not only Umpires, but also is an Umpire Coach and works closely with up and coming umpires in the Zone. Ceri has her NZ B Award.

The Breeze Waikato 99.4FM Club of the Year

• Tom Voyle Park Sports Club (Cambridge) - TVP Club has grown from three teams to six which has also meant a growth in coaches, umpires and administrators representing the club. With nine affiliated umpires regularly umpiring across all grades, nine coaches contributing to a variety of school and club-based teams, and two delegates on the Committee, Netball is really thriving in the TVP Club. Being a multi-sport club, there are regular meetings to ensure all codes are being looked after. Regular working bees to ensure the club facilities are well maintained which all codes attend meaning a really strong link between everyone in the club.

Latitude Solutions Centre Initiative of the Year

• Taupo Netball Centre (Fluro Fun Day) - A day planned purely for NETBALL FUN. The initiative was introduced as a way to align with the Mother Earth FF programme, highlighting the philosophy of having FUN and playing with friends. The target being the 55 FF teams but also the entire netball community in Taupo including players, umpires, coaches, managers, teachers, parents and whanau. As well as playing Netball, there are other fun activities run throughout including a mass dance warmup, goal shooting competition, photo booths and relay racing.

Challenge Centre of the Year

• Trustpower Otorohanga Netball Centre - Our centre is made up of 100% Volunteers who all hold full time employment, so the devotion from our members is next to none. We have included Netball Smart Workshops for Players and Umpires, as well as a strapping course at no cost to any attendees. We continue to work with our cluster Centres to ensure all of our up and coming talent are supported on their pathway. Our biggest success this year has been moving our Netball (SS, School and FF) to Friday nights instead of Saturdays - this came through loud and strong from our community - this has had an extremely positive result increasing our numbers across the board an allowing kids to play netball Friday nights and other sports on Saturdays.

Active Health Talent Pathway Most Improved Player of the Year

• Kataraina Ormsby - St Peters School, Cambridge

Latitude Solutions Performance Coach of the Year

• Rebecca Gabel (Netball Waikato Bay of Plenty) - Rebecca was the Head Coach for the NWBOP Beko team who were runners up in the National League. She was promoted from Assistant Coach in 2018 to Head Coach and has taken the team to the grand final for two years running. She is also the Defence Specialist Coach in Netball NZs Pathway to Podium programme and has been reappointed this for 2020. She has almost completed her Performance Coach Qualification. Rebecca is a hard-working, committed performance coach who has great game and tactical awareness and knowledge - the time she gives up and the work she puts in developing players who have reached Magic level, is a true testament to her coaching.

Craigs Investment Partners WBOP Breakthrough Player of the Year

• Khiarna Williams

Hobbiton™ Movie Set WBOP Player of the Year

• Georgia Tong and Ali Wilshier

Bartercard Splice Construction Magic Members Player of the Year

• Casey Kopua

SkyCity Splice Construction Magic Players Player of the Year

• Casey Kopua

Claudelands Splice Construction Magic Most Improved Player of the Year

• Kelsey McPhee

Winger Suzuki Splice Construction Magic Player of the Year

• Casey Kopua