Winners of the prestigious 2019 Brian Perry Regional Sports Awards were announced on Thursday 30th January 2020 at Claudelands Conference & Exhibition Centre, Hamilton. The event showcases and celebrates sporting achievement from local grassroots clubs through to high performance level.
 
78 individuals, teams, clubs and events from around the region were selected as finalists from more than 700 nominations received for the awards.
 
Netballer Casey Kopua took out both the Sportswoman of the Year title and the top honour of Supreme Award for Sporting Excellence. Named Most Valuable Player, Casey was part of the Silver Ferns team that won gold at the 2019 Netball World Cup.
 
Other winners from the night included cricketer Mitchell Santner who won Sportsman of the Year as a member of the Black Caps team in the 2019 Cricket World Cup final against England, cycling’s Ross Machejefski picking up the Performance Coach of the Year award for his role in the Women’s Track Endurance programme, and touch official Tony Arnel winning the award for Official of the Year, officiating at many regional, national and international events including the Touch Youth World Cup.
 
While we have such an outstanding lineup of sporting athletes in the Waikato, Sport Waikato Chief Executive Matthew Cooper commented on the achievements of those who help make sport happen. “It’s fantastic to see so many sports supporters recognised at these awards; the coaches, officials and administrators – these are the all important people who are crucial to ensuring our athletes can achieve at the highest level.”
 
“Congratulations to all of our finalists and our winners.”

Ends.
 

Full list of winners and blurbs follows.

View all photos here

2019 Brian Perry Waikato Regional Sports Award Winners

 
Category Name Sport Club/Organisation District
Deloitte Administrator Shaun Jackson Multiple Sports Tuakau Combined Sports Trust Waikato
Lodge Real Estate Club  
 
Cycling Tokoroa Mountain Bike Club South Waikato
Lodge Real Estate Community Coach Mike Guest Athletics Waikato Bay of Plenty Athletics Hamilton
Lodge Real Estate Club Team Lugton Park Squash Club Cousins Shield Team Squash Lugton Park Squash Club Hamilton
SBI Productions Disability Eltje Malzbender Cycling Morrinsville Wheelers Cycling Club Matamata Piako
Tompkins Wake Performance Coach Ross Machejefski Cycling Cycling New Zealand Hamilton
University of Waikato Emerging Talent Ally Wollaston Cycling Te Awamutu Sports Cycling Club Waipa
Montana Catering and Events Official Tony Arnel Touch Waikato Touch Association Hamilton
Gallagher Group Sportswoman & Brian Perry Supreme Award for Sporting Excellence Casey Kopua Netball Netball Waikato Bay of Plenty Zone Hamilton
FleetPartners Sportsman Mitchell Santner Cricket Knights Hamilton
APL Secondary School Sportswoman Charlisse
Leger-Walker
Basketball St Peter's, Cambridge Waipa
APL Secondary School Sportsman Kiaan Watts Cycling Hamilton Boys’ High School Hamilton
APL Secondary School Team St Peter’s, Cambridge Premier Girls Basketball Team Basketball St Peter’s, Cambridge Waipa
Craigs Investment Partners Innovation in Sport & Recreation Cambridge Football Club & Cambridge Junior Cricket Club Pitch Development Multiple Sports Cambridge Football Club & Cambridge Junior Cricket Club Waipa
Wintec Outstanding Contribution to Sport Peter Gilbert Multiple Sports St Paul’s Collegiate School Hamilton
Hare Puke Leadership in Sport Jon Tanner Hockey   Hamilton
 

 
 
2019 Brian Perry Waikato Regional Sports Award Winners Blurbs

Craigs Investment Partners Innovation in Sport & Recreation Award – Cambridge Football Club & Cambridge Junior Cricket Club Pitch Development
Thanks to the foresight and community connection of Cambridge Football Club and Cambridge Cricket Club, cricket has developed a one-stop facility for junior cricket players. With over 300 registered players, Cambridge has the fastest growing player base in the Waikato. This development has allowed cricket to keep kids better engaged in the game and create stronger pathways.

Lodge Real Estate Community Coach of the Year – Mike Guest
Mike works with students from schools including Cambridge High School, St Paul's Collegiate, Sacred Heart Girls College, Te Kuiti High School, Te Awamutu College and Hamilton Boys’ High School. Mike coaches athletes in all disciplines of athletics, trains his athletes 6-7 days a week free of charge and acts as a mentor to emerging athletes and also emerging coaches.

Lodge Real Estate Club Team of the Year – Lugton Park Squash Club Cousins Shield Team
The squash team won the Cousins Shield, the premier club teams event for men in New Zealand squash. The Cousins Shield pits five men per club against other squash clubs from around New Zealand. The team was the top ranked team going into the final and won the final hard-fought match three games to two.

Lodge Real Estate Club of the Year – Tokoroa Mountain Bike Club
After forest harvesting took 85% of existing tracks in Cougar Park, Tokoroa Mountain Bike Club have spent the last year rebuilding tracks with a total of 12km of tracks now been restored into the park. The tracks range from very basic family tracks to grade 4 & 5. Cougar Park has over 1500 visitors per month.

Deloitte Administrator of the Year – Shaun Jackson
Shaun is the Chairperson of the Tuakau Combined Sports Trust, a group that oversees the governance and operations of Dr John Lightbody Reserve on behalf of eight permanent and several casual user groups - a combined membership of 1000+. Shaun has high level negotiation skills with Council, community groups, developers and undeniable empathy and energy for his community.

Montana Food and Events Official of the Year – Tony Arnel
Tony has officiated at many regional, national and international events including the Touch Youth World Cup, Touch World Cup 2019 and the NRL Touch Premiership. Tony is an inspiration to all officials coming up through the ranks, and a Level 4 referee which is the highest level attainable in New Zealand.

SBI Productions Disability Award – Eltje Malzbender
Eltje competed at two UCI Para Cycling Road World Championships in Europe, winning gold in the T1 individual time trial and gold in the T1 Road Race at both events. Eltje also won gold at several Parafed Para cycling tricycle events in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Tompkins Wake Performance Coach of the Year – Ross Machejefski
Ross’s role is to lead the Women’s Track Endurance programme, including setting the training programme for the riders and track side coaching.  He has claimed several medals at World Championship and World Cup events with individual and team pursuit, including a silver medal in the team pursuit at the Paris Track World Cup.

APL Secondary School Sportsman of the Year – Kiaan Watts (Hamilton Boys’ High School)
A member of the New Zealand Track Junior World Championships team, Kiaan won the Junior Madison World Title.  At the Oceania Road Race & Time Trial Championships he placed eighth and ninth, and at the Elite National Criterium Championships he finished fourth in the Elite Men.
 
APL Secondary School Sportswoman of the Year – Charlisse Leger-Walker (St Peter’s, Cambridge)
Charlisse captained the Under 18 3x3 team which claimed silver at the World Championships and she was named in the Allstar 3. Charlisse also captained the team that competed at the ISF World Championships Secondary School event, claiming fifth in the world and also named in the Allstar 5. Charlisse was selected to the NBA Allstar Global Camp in Charlotte USA.

APL Secondary School Team of the Year – St Peter’s, Cambridge Girls Premier Girls Basketball Team
St Peter's, Cambridge Premier Girls Basketball team competed at the ISF World Championships Secondary School event, finishing fifth in the world. The team finished the season with a fourth New Zealand Secondary School basketball title.

University of Waikato Emerging Talent – Ally Wollaston
Ally was crowned the Junior Individual Pursuit World Champion at the Junior World Track Cycling Championships; she was also a member of the Team Pursuit at the Junior World Track Cycling Championships who finished second. Ally was then selected to represent New Zealand at the Elite World Cup where the team placed fourth in Team Pursuit.

 FleetPartners Sportsman of the Year – Mitchell Santner
Mitch was an integral member of the Black Caps team that captured the world in the thrilling 2019 Cricket World Cup final against England. Mitch’s calmness under pressure contributed to the Black Caps' success at the World Cup. While better known for his bowling, it was his batting performance in daunting times that won him worldwide praise.

Gallagher Sportswoman of the Year & Supreme Award for Sporting Excellence – Casey Kopua
Casey made the Silver Ferns team that contested the Quad series in January 2019. She then went on to win a gold medal with the Silver Ferns at the 2019 Netball World Cup in July. Casey was named the Most Valuable Player of the final at the tournament, and was first equal for number of rebounds and first for blocked shots in the ANZ Championship.

Casey Kopua takes out major titles at Brian Perry Waikato Regional Sports Awards

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