Waikato volunteer coaches honoured
Outstanding volunteer coaches in the Waikato have been recognised in the 2009 SPARC Volunteer Coach of the Year awards.
Regional finalists were invited to an awards evening at Waikato Stadium last Thursday night, hosted by Sport Waikato, where the winners were announced.
The student volunteer coach of the year went to Jessica Grant from Waihi College, who coaches the 7A netball team and Janet Fairclough won the Lifetime category for dedicating more than 40 years to coaching golf.
Belinda Wilson, who coaches hockey at Te Awamutu Intermediate, took out the General category and was named overall Waikato region winner. Belinda was nominated by a number of her players with one of them saying “I love playing hockey because of my coach”.
All of the winners received coaching apparel from SPARC, coaching scholarships from the Waikato Institute for Leisure and Sports Studies and products from award’s sponsor Watties. The regional winner Belinda also won travel, accommodation and entry to SPARC’s national coaching convention in 2010, where she will mix it with the countries top professional coaches.
A highlight of the evening was guest speaker David Klinkhamer who shared his journey from breaking his neck in a motorcycle accident to becoming an elite athlete with the Wheel Blacks and the impact his coaches have had on his career along the way.
Almost 700 nominations were made across the region by those wanting to say thanks for the work volunteer coaches have done.
Sport Waikato Sport Development Officer Mark McLaughlin said the judges had a tough time picking winners as the quality of the nominations was very high.
“Everyone nominated for the awards deserves to be thanked for what they have done for their athletes, their team and their sport,” Mark said.
“To stand out the winners had to have done something very, very special”.
The judges decisions were based on a variety of criteria, including the level of involvement in coaching, the number of teams coached, and the overall contribution the volunteers had made to the community.
Student: Jessica Grant, Waihi College, Netball
General: Belinda Wilson, Te Awamutu Intermediate, Hockey
Lifetime: Janet Fairclough, Hamilton Golf Club, Golf
Regional Winner: Belinda Wilson, Te Awamutu Intermediate, Hockey
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