Another successful and enjoyable Sportsman of the Year Awards Dinner was held on the last Wednesday of Term 3 at the Russley Golf Club Function Centre.

150 parents, students and staff were entertained by a variety of guest speakers including Ben Friel – who spoke about his sporting experiences with mountain-biking; Tyson Keats – who spoke about never giving up on your dreams of achieving at the highest level in your chosen sport, and of investing in your future beyond sport while still playing; and Rod Latham – who talked about the impact sport has had on his life, especially through cricket and being a part of the New Zealand cricket team that made the semi-finals of the 1992 Cricket World Cup.

The most pleasing aspect of the Awards Dinner was the huge array of sporting talent on display and the opportunity to celebrate the sporting achievements of many of our top sportsmen in a wide range of sporting fields. In the Junior Sportsman of the Year category there were ten finalists:

• Ethan De Rose (Ice Speed Skating)
• Brad Entwistle (Cricket, Football, and Golf)
• Reece Falck (Tennis)
• Ryan James (Indoor Cricket)
• Tom McDonald (Indoor Cricket)
• Levi McNabb (Football, Futsal, and tennis)
• Shaun Regaldo (Football, Futsal, and Volleyball)
• Oscar Toone (Basketball)
• Tyreice Tuliau (Basketball, Rugby League, Touch, and Volleyball)
• Jack Woolcott (Football and Futsal)

The winner of the Junior Sportsman of the Year Award was Levi McNabb because of his all-round sporting ability across a wide range of sports.

There were four finalists in the Junior Team of the Year Award. They were:

• Junior Futsal Team
• Under 15A Rugby Team
• Under 15 Basketball Team
• Junior Rowing Squad

The winner was the Junior Rowing Squad:  Connor Coppard, Evan Young, MacGregor Best, Tem Bennett, James Alexander, Corban Newlands, Fletcher Platt, Alex Cartwright, Callum Pattison, Barry Stace, and Jake Luthi.

Blues Awards were also presented to the following sportsmen:

Connor Robinson (Rowing), Ben Friel (Mountain-Biking), James Hurren (Football), Connor Arnold (Cricket), Corey Taylor (Rugby), Liam Wright (Surfing), Josh Archer (Rugby), Patrick Rodger (Basketball), Logan Bell (Rugby), Connor Page (Basketball), Lukas Stringer (Rugby),  Maui Koopu (Rugby), Christian Wood (Hockey), Joseph Berry (Volleyball), Sean Poulsen (Hockey), Daniel McDowell (Kayaking), Luke Hulston (Volleyball), Ollie Lidstone (Football), Derek Stowers (Touch), Silas Dalley (Hockey), Corey Paterson (Hockey), Brodie McAlister (Rugby), Tom Christie (Rugby and Rowing).

There were two finalists in the Team of the Year Award: 

• The ‘A’ Basketball team
• 1st XV Rugby team

The winner of the Team of the Year Award was the First XV.

In the Individual of the Year Award there were six finalists:

• Tom Christie (Rugby, Basketball and Rowing)
• Silas Dalley (Hockey)
• Ben Friel (Mountain-Biking)
• Brodie McAlister (Rugby)
• Daniel McDowell (Sprint and Marathon Kayaking, and Surf-Lifesaving)
• Sean Poulsen (Hockey)

The winner of the Individual Sportsman of the Year was Tom Christie who also went on to win the John Mullins Trophy for the overall Sportsman of the Year for 2015. Tom wasn’t able to collect the awards in person because he was in Australia as part of the New Zealand Secondary Schools Rugby team but his mother, Annette Miller, proudly accepted his awards on his behalf.