New World Netball Volunteer Award winners announced

Netball New Zealand has today announced the four outstanding winners of the 2009 New World Netball Volunteer Awards.

 

The awards, which are part of the Netball New Zealand Volunteer Strategy in conjunction with New World, aim to recognise the invaluable work that volunteers at local centres, regions and clubs make to the development and success of netball in New Zealand.

 

The awards consist of four categories that represent the range of roles that volunteers undertake; Coach, Official, Administrator and Youth (Under the age of 21) every weekend in their local community. The 12 Netball Regions were asked to make nominations of those volunteers who they felt were deserving and submit these to Netball New Zealand for judging.

 

The winners in each category are:

 

Coach Cheryl Blair – Otago

Official Linda Liggins – Western

Administrator Mary Thompson – Bay of Plenty

Youth Christie Yule – Bay of Plenty

 

Administrator Highly Commended : Alison Cormack – Southland

 

The winners and their partners will be flown up to Auckland and acknowledged at the second Silver Ferns New World International Netball Series test against Australia on the 23rd of September at Vector Arena. Highly Commended winner Alison Cormack will be presented with her award at the first Australian test in Invercargill on the 20th of September.

 

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For more information please contact NNZ Communications Executive Alex Spence on 021 388921.

 

 

Notes to editor:

 

· New World are flying the winners and their partners/guests of choice to the test, accommodating them and hosting them in Auckland.

· The judging panel is made up of Netball New Zealand and New World representatives

· This is the second year in which New World have been associated with the awards – the first year was 2007 at the World Netball Championships.

 

Quick Facts about the New World Volunteer Award Recipients:

 

Cheryl Blair

 

· Cheryl has been involved with Netball since 1974

· She coaching in 1982 and has been doing so for 27 years.

· Cheryl coaches at Age Group level and was apprentice coach for the Otago NPC team in 2006.

· Cheryl has managed to coach, at the minimum 2 and at the most 4 teams every year since 1991

· Cheryl is not one to rest on her laurels, she has attended many coaching clinics, managed Otago representative teams and summer camps, attended and passed different netball coaching levels, apprentice coach courses and has coordinated all South Otago academy days.

· From her nomination : “Cheryl does this without ever feeling the need for recognition from her peers; she does it because of her self confessed passion for the game.”

· “ Cheryl’s enthusiasm and attention to detail ensure that whichever team she is involved with, at whatever level, will reach their full potential.”

 

 

Linda Liggins

 

· Linda has been working selflessly to maintain Netball Umpiring standards in the Manawatu Region for over 16 years.

· Linda has been Umpiring Coordinator for Western Regional Netball and has been involved with various tournaments as well as being the president for the Manawatu Umpiring Group.

· Linda held a position on the Netball Manawatu Board as the Umpires representative for six years from 2003 – 2008 and now sits on Netball Manawatu’s Advisory Group

· She organises umpiring meetings, directs theory classes and spends countless hours ensuring that Netball Manawatu has enough umpires every Saturday.

· Linda introduced the “Junior Whistlers” initiative, a programme that enables the region to develop great young umpires.

· Linda is currently a Netball New Zealand marker for the NNZ Regional Theory examinations.

· From her nomination : “It is Linda’s years of experience, her expertise in her chosen field and her contribution to the successful umpiring programmes that we run; her decision making abilities, communication skills, flexible thinking, integrity, reliability, honesty and leadership are respected and admired qualities.”

 

Mary Thompson

 

· Mary has volunteered in administration for Rotorua Netball Centre for over 30 years and has also been on the Waikato / Bay of Plenty Franchise Board for 5 years

· Mary has played a huge role in the organization of the Kurangaituku Tournament for 29 years.

· She is the main volunteer administrator for Rotorua which includes the responsibility of organizing close to 3000 players each Saturday.

· Mary oversaw the relocation from Netball in Kuirau Park to the Westbrook complex and played an integral role in the development of the Rotorua Energy Events Centre.

· From her nomination: “Mary is an amazing administrator who…. leaves no stone unturned and is willing to help with anything that needs to be done to ensure netball is a success.”

· “Her commitment, enthusiasm and energy for netball are reflected in the way the community holds netball in Rotorua in such high regard”

 

Christie Yule

 

· Christie is a year 13 student at Mt Maunganui College

· She has played representative netball since 2006.

· She began coaching in Year 9 and has coached for her school, club and other Mt Maunganui Schools since.

· Christie umpires at various events and often volunteers to umpire when there are “no shows” or when she is called upon.

· Christie also helps out at Tauranga's many netball events as a parking warden, setting up and packing down, goal post padding and Discovery Days.

· She was a member of the NNZ Youth Council from 2006 – 2009 and won praise from the NNZ staff for her presentation “It’s all about heart”.

· From her nomination: “ Her contribution has been nothing short of outstanding. She has huge respect among her peers and all those she has worked with, whether younger or older. Her willingness to get things done and help out when and where needed is unique and she has set the benchmark for youth leaders within the Region.”