Bike Manawatu named region's top sports club!

Bike Manawatu has been recognised as the region's top sports club after winning the Sports Club of the Year Award at the 2011 Property Brokers Grassroots Sports Awards on Friday evening (September 23).

The club showed success over a number of areas €“ winning the Ellea Sport Best Presented Club of the Year category, and being named a finalist in both the Club Event of the Year and the Fundraising Initiative of the Year categories.

The awards included categories for sports volunteers and clubs and were open to any volunteer or club in Manawatu, Tararua and Horowhenua.

Other club category winners were: Manawatu Striders (Club Event of the Year); Manawatu Triathlon Club (Participation Initiative of the Year); Palmerston North Squash Club (Athlete Development of the Year); and Special Olympics (Fundraising Initiative of the Year).

In the volunteer section Craig Noble, a volunteer for Touch Manawatu for over 25 years took out the Lifetime Achievement Award. The Wattie's Student Sport Volunteer Award went to Anurag Ganugapati; a 16 year old who dedicated much time to coaching his younger brother's football team and Lyndon Cooney, president of the Levin BMX Club and hockey coach, won the SPARC Sport Volunteer Award.

€œThis year we introduced Sports Partner of the Year as a new category. This was because we wanted to acknowledge the amazing support that local businesses provide to sport in the region, € says Sport Manawatu's Shaun Iwikau

The Award was won by Pahiatua New World for the partnerships they have with many of the sports groups in Pahiatua

The business was nominated by multiple sports groups and has provided clubs with uniforms and food for both players and fundraising purposes. In addition the owner Jason Griggs is on multiple committees associated with funding and community parks.

Finalists in this category were: Mitchpine Products, Inspire Net, Manawatu Toyota
and Vautier Pharmacy.

The function was held at the recently renovated Manawatu Golf Club where guest speaker
Gary Nesdale kept the audience of over 200 people entertained throughout the evening with stories of his rugby playing and coaching days.

The awards are held annually by Sport Manawatu and were supported by Eastern and Central Community Trust, SPARC, Property Brokers, More FM, Wattie's, Ellea Sport, The Frame Shop, Studio 31, Manawatu Golf Club, Manawatu Standard, SquashGym and other local supporting sponsors.

Property Brokers Grassroots Sports Awards 2011

Sports Club of the Year: Bike Manawatu

Club Event of the Year: Manawatu Striders

Manawatu Striders ran a hugely successful Super 7 event series throughout January and February this year. This saw a 7km run and walk event run over 7 consecutive Tuesday nights. The series attracted large amounts of participants with 1800 participating in one of the events, an increase of 300 from 2010.

Finalists: Manawatu Triathlon Club, Bike Manawatu

Participation Initiative of the Year: Manawatu Triathlon Club

Manawatu Triathlon Club held 22 events during the nomination period and has successfully increased overall participant numbers. The club has run a number of new initiatives aimed at increasing participants including a dad's duathlon, team triathlon, ladies only triathlon, family triathlon and two interschool triathlons.

Finalists: Manawatu Mountain Bike Club

Athlete Development of the Year: Palmerston North Squash Club

Palmerston North Squash Club runs the SquashGym Academy to assist players reach their full potential. This involves weekly training sessions, personalised fitness programmes, one off sessions with specialist coaches, and assisting players with funding and sponsorship. The club has supported players to compete at a regional representative level as well as for New Zealand.

Finalists: Massey University Rugby Club, Manawatu Mountain Bike Club

Fundraising Initiative of the Year: Special Olympics

Special Olympics undertakes many fundraising activities to help support their teams when competing overseas. They have run disco events as well as established a lunch fundraising team who supply lunches for Special Olympics events. These fundraisers were very successful in raising money for the World Games team.

Finalists: Bike Manawatu, Manawatu Gymsports

Ellea Sport Best Presented Club of the Year: Bike Manawatu

Bike Manawatu communicates to members and the community in a variety of ways and does this very successfully. They have a website with good information on their club and events. They also send a weekly email newsletter to their database and have a quarterly newsletter that is distributed via post. The club also has regular article in the Manawatu Standard, and event promotion is done through the radio and i-site. In addition the club communicates directly with schools and has recently got new uniforms so club members are highly visible when out cycling.

Finalists: Weraroa Cricket Club, Palmerston North Squash Club

Sports Partner of the Year: Pahiatua New World

Pahiatua New World was nominated by four sports clubs for the outstanding support they have provided to sport in Pahiatua. The business has provided clubs with uniforms and food for both players and fundraising purposes. In addition the owner Jason Griggs is also on multiple committees associated with funding and community parks.

Finalists: Mitchpine Products, Inspire Net, Manawatu Toyota, Vautier Pharmacy

SPARC Sport Volunteer Award: Lyndon Cooney (BMX, Hockey, Football)

Lyndon founded the Levin BMX Club approximately 18 months ago and has been President since the clubs establishment. He is also the club trainer, oversees club meets, introduced an interclub challenge, and has been the major force behind track development and improvements. Lyndon is a teacher, and instead of using the BMX off-season to rest he takes on the role of managing three Poroutawhao School hockey teams and one twilight hockey team.

Finalists:
Colleen Hooker (Golf)
Darryl Gledhill (Swimming)
Gary Teague (Badminton)
Andy Martin (Football)
Candice Hensleigh (Netball, Waka Ama)
Dianne Spicer (Outdoor Bowls)
Paul Cleghorn (Football)
Kim Damerell (Hockey)
Kylie Andrew (Rugby)
Anna Brookie (Netball)

Wattie's Student Sport Volunteer Award: Anurag Ganugapati (Football)

Anurag Ganugapati is a 16 year old who took up the challenge of coaching his 7 year old brother's football team. Anurag dedicated much of his time to coaching this team which had a very successful season, and gained the respect of both the players and their parents through his attitude and passion for both the sport and his team.

Finalists:
Toni Loveridge (Gymnastics)
Alysha Cribb (Netball)
Riley Scott (Hockey)
Brandon Gillespie (Football)
Katherine Grant (Hockey)
Hirapeka Nicholas (Netball)
Anna Willocks (Hockey)

Lifetime Achievement Award: Craven Noble (Touch, 8ball Pool)

Craven Noble has been involved with Touch Manawatu for over 25 years. He has assisted with establishing competitions, coaching, and has also taken up refereeing. Craven is the Provincial Director of referees and has recruited many new referees and supported them with development and training. In addition to his dedication for touch, Craven also volunteers his time coaching 8ball Pool.

Finalists:
Annette Lewis (Netball)
Raynor Hunt (Football)
Vicky Prouting (Hockey)
Jason Flynn (Football)
Sue Tucker (Netball)
Simon Verschaffelt (Ultimate Disc)
Carrell Knight (Outdoor Bowls)
Edna Hansen (Netball)
Brett €œBK € Karipa (Rugby)