News

Surf lifesaving recognised in Halberg nominations

Sunday, 14 December 2014

Congratulations to our members who have been nominated for the 52nd Halberg Awards for their success in surf lifesaving.

The nominations include Steve Kent (Titahi Bay) for Sportsman of the Year, Samantha Lee (Lyall Bay) for Sportswoman of the Year, Andrew Trembath (St Clair) for Emerging Talent and Scott Bartlett (Omanu) for Coach of the Year.

World Champions, the New Zealand Black Fins, are also finalists in the Team of the Year category.

Other Surf Life Saving members nominated for Halbergs include Lisa Carrington (Mount Maunganui) and Teneale Hatton (Piha) both of whom are nominated in the Sportswoman of the Year category for Canoeing.

The Halberg Awards are the country's pre-eminent event to honour and celebrate New Zealand sporting excellence in 2014. The outstanding success of New Zealand athletes on the world stage in 2014 has resulted in 80 official nominations - a jump from 58 in 2013.

A Voting Academy of 28 former athletes, coaches and media representatives will now vote to determine the finalists which are announced on January 3, 2015.

The winners of the Sportsman, Sportswoman, Disabled Sportsperson and Team of the Year award categories will again be eligible for the supreme Halberg Award - the country's highest accolade for sporting excellence.

Halberg Disability Sport Foundation CEO, Geoff Burgess, says the leap in nominations this year is a great reflection of the hard work and success our athletes continue to achieve on the world stage.

"It's good to see sports such as surf lifesaving, wood chopping and taekwon-do represented in the nominees amongst more high profile sports like rowing, yachting, cycling and rugby. The Voting Academy has a huge task ahead evaluating and deciding who is deserved of the top honours."

Award winners will be announced at the 52nd Halberg Awards at Vector Arena, Auckland, on Wednesday February 11, 2015.

For a full list of nominees visit http://www.halbergawards.co.nz/the-awards/nominees/

About the Halberg Awards:
Named after Olympic champion Sir Murray Halberg (ONZ), the Halberg Awards is the country's pre-eminent event to honour and celebrate New Zealand sporting excellence. It also provides the Halberg Disability Sport Foundation with a flagship fundraising opportunity for Sir Murray's charity, which aims to enhance the lives of physically disabled New Zealanders by enabling them to participate in sport and recreation. This includes a team of Disability Sport Advisers around the country who connect physically disabled people to sport and recreation opportunities in schools, clubs and in their communities as well as providing grants for adaptive sports equipment, camps and lessons. For more information go to www.halberg.co.nz.

For more information, please contact:

Lisa Honeybone, Media & Communications Specialist, SLSNZ
Phone 09 303 9335 or 0276 488 823
Email lisa.honeybone@surflifesaving.org.nz