NZ Herald: There are allrounders, and then there is Grace Lui. The 16-year-old Year 12 Kelston Girls’ College athlete is the epitome of the busy school sports girl. In summer she is full-on with athletics – she is a natural thrower of the discus, shot put and javelin – and waka ama, where she is a key member of the champion Kelston under-19 crew which won the Sport Waitakere sports team of the year. In winter, Lui’s sport diet consists of netball and rugby, but she is often pitching in…
Read MoreYear: 2016
Talented athlete takes the family legacy in his stride
NZ Herald: Theo Quax is gunning for the top of the podium. This weekend the 16-year-old Year 12 Macleans College middle distance runner will line up, barring any mishaps, in the New Zealand schools athletics nationals 1500m senior boys’ final at Waitakere’s Trusts Stadium as one of the favourites. Burning in his mind is the memory of last year’s fourth-place finish in the same event. “I’m aiming for top of the podium, hopefully, especially as I took out the under-18 club nationals in March. I’ve built a lot since last…
Read MoreYoung Sportsperson of the Year Winners 2016
Congratulations to all the 2016 Young Sportsperson of the Year winners! This year’s Young Sportsman of the Year is Daniel Hoy from Westlake Boys High School and our Young Sportswoman of the Year is Ella Simanu from Diocesan School for Girls. Thank you to everyone who attended the awards – we hope you enjoyed yourselves! Click here to see all the 2016 Young Sportsperson of the Year winners. Photos from the awards are available to download free from TempoShot Photography.
Read MoreFuture of NZ softball in good hands
NZ Herald: Losana Hutchinson-Tuiletufuga is one of the three finalists in the girls’ softball category of the College Sport Young Sportsperson of the Year awards. The 16-year-old Year 12 student at One Tree Hill College has proven herself as one of the top schoolgirl softballers in the region after a productive 2016. Now she has her sights set on cracking the Junior White Sox for next year’s world championships in Florida. She sees herself as a catcher/batter and indeed has taken swiftly to catching, having only started specialising in crouching…
Read MorePatel has freedom of expression
NZ Herald: Sandeep Patel can only smile when it is suggested that he may have a weakness on 152. Most batsmen would kill for that kind of weakness, much like Martin Crowe on 188 or Kevin Pietersen on 158. Like those two classy stroke makers, Patel, the Saint Kentigern College First XI captain, has twice been dismissed on the same hefty score. The 18-year-old is a boys’ cricket finalist at the November 26 Young Sportsperson of the Year awards. On Saturday he winds up his Auckland premier schools First XI…
Read MoreSuccess flows for waka ama teen
NZ Herald: Koha-Alofa Vitolio has fast established herself as one of the country’s top junior female waka ama paddlers. The 16-year-old Year 12 student at McAuley High School has her sights set on next year’s inaugural waka ama long distance world champs in Tahiti, where she will likely represent New Zealand at both junior (under-19) and senior levels. Vitolio’s progress has been rapid since she started paddling competitively five years ago in this growing sport. Already she has competed at two worlds and four club nationals, and her latest national…
Read MoreGreg Vukets hitting the heights
NZ Herald: Greg Vukets is nearing the end of three years of top quality volleyball as premier skipper for Westlake BHS. The 17-year-old, Year 13 senior prefect and sports captain is now in the thick of exams before he cranks up the beach volleyball season. He is also a boys’ volleyball finalist for the ASB Young Sportsperson of the Year awards later this month. Westlake BHS has a strong volleyball pedigree and the premier team, under the coaching of John Howard, is a force, winning the schools nationals this year…
Read MoreRugby’s the first love but league snares rising star
NZ Herald: Jirah Momoisea is clearly a fast learner. The 18-year-old St Paul’s College deputy head boy only took up league this year to supplement his rugby as the First XV captain. So well did he take to the 13-man code that he has won himself a contract with NRL club Melbourne Storm after making the College Rugby League (CRL) team of the year as the top second-rower. “Being my final year, I just wanted to play everything, so it was touch, cricket, volleyball, AFL, rugby and league,” says Momoisea,…
Read MoreIndoor-outdoor flow for cricketing prodigy
NZ Herald: Skye Bowden is proving equally adept at both indoor and outdoor cricket. The 15-year-old Pakuranga College year 10 student is coming off a stellar winter indoor cricket season. The highlight was picking up the MVP award from the New Zealand Under 22 team’s series with Australia last month in Port Macquarie. Her form with both the bat and the gloves as keeper was top notch. But perhaps most impressive is the fact she only took up indoor cricket last year. Her rise has been exponential. It all means…
Read MoreLeader, not a follower
NZ Herald: You’ll notice Anisha Venter on the netball court. She’ll be one of the fittest, wearing the C, WD or even WA bibs, driving through midcourt at speed, pulling off intercepts with her anticipation and linking with the circle at either end. The 17-year-old year 13 Long Bay College student is on the radar of netball scouts and was named in the tournament team – the sole Harbour player to be recognised – after the recent Upper North Island Secondary Schools (UNISS) event. Venter is the captain of the…
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