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Black Ferns sevens player Alena Saili claimed gold and the Tpkyo Olympics and has now been named the Southland Athlete of the Year 2022.
Black Ferns seven star Alena Saili is the 2022 ILT Southland Senior Athlete of the Year.
The 23-year-old former Southland Girls’ High School student and two-time Southland Junior Athlete of the Year became the first Southland woman to win a gold medal in the Olympics last year as part of the New Zealand women’s seven team in Tokyo.
A fixture in the Black Ferns since 2017, Saili was recently confirmed in the roster for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and is hoping for a repeat of her gold medal at the latest Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
Due to her training commitments, she was unable to attend the Southland Sports Awards in person on Friday night, but she was represented by proud parents Sefo Saili and Maima Afutu.
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Delivered
Black Ferns sevens player Alena Saili shows her Olympic gold medal she won in Tokyo.
Representing New Zealand High Schools netball, Losa Fifita won the Vodafone Junior Sportsperson of the Year, while cyclist Ronan Shearing was honored with the Mike Piper Trophy for Integrity, Excellence and Dedication, which is awarded to an athlete each year from Academy Southland.
National track and field coach Chris Knight was named Ricoh Coach of the Year for the second time in three years.
The Southland Kia Team of the Year award went to the Cycling Southland under 17 boys sprint combination of Magnus Jamieson and George Manson, who twice broke the New Zealand record en route to winning the national title.
Te Anau’s Gail Kirkman, who continues to compete at world-class athletics despite his 70th birthday, took home the NZME Masters Achievement Award.
The BDO Administrator of the year award went to Southern Steel event manager Sonya Fleming, while the Creation Signs Official of the year award was won by Barbara Grieve, the only New Zealander, and one of the few women, to lead weightlifting at the Olympics. Tokyo Games.
The late Will Impelmans, who was a driving force behind developing mountain bike trails on Bluff Hill, won the Southland Times Unsung Hero award, which was determined by public vote.
Active Southland Services to Sport awards were presented to former Olympic cyclist and Southland Triathlon and Multisport Club loyal Glenn McLeay, Southland’s Golf Linda Suddaby, longtime Southland Cricket Association administrator and volunteer Allan Faithful and Southland Racing Club president Sean Bellew.
The Awards night is the longest running of its kind in New Zealand and is organized annually by Active Southland on behalf of the Southland Amateur Sports Trust.
Active Southland CEO Brendon McDermott said the aim of the awards was to inspire the Southland community.
“You can’t help but be inspired by the dedication, commitment and resilience these awards show, from the grassroots to the highest levels of the sport.”