Pacific Business Trust award promotes off-field leadership

PRESS RELEASE
25 November 2013

For immediate release

Pacific Business Trust award category promotes off-field leadership

Among winners like Valerie Adams, Joseph Parker and the world champion Black Sox, Dain Guttenbeil represented the importance of off-field leadership at this year’s New Zealand Pacific Island Sports Awards, winning the Sports Administrator of the Year Award sponsored by the Pacific Business Trust

Dain Guttenbeil was named Sports Administrator of the Year at the 2013 New Zealand Pacific Island Sports Awards (NZPISA) held in Auckland on November 23, with the category sponsored by the Pacific Business Trust.

Dain is the General Manager of Football and Community Development at New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL), a position which PBT Chief Executive Peter Cordtz held previously.

“I owe a lot to Peter for me being here as he encouraged me to follow his path into sports administration,” says Dain, who is of Tongan descent.

PBT has proudly sponsored the category since the inaugural bi-annual NZPISA event in 2011, when General Manager of the Warriors Don Mann took home the award. Peter Cordtz says the Trust’s continued involvement in the category is in line with its aim to recognise the behind the scenes work that’s important to any sports organisation.

“Our reasons for wanting to be associated with the Sports Administration category are the same now as they were at the inaugural event,” he says.

“It’s important to have more Pacific perspectives in off field-leadership roles, and we want to make that off-field leadership more aspirational.

“Pacific athletes make a significant contribution to the commercial value of professional sport in New Zealand and the wider Pacific. So having more Pacific people in those decision making roles in and around the business of sport is important.” 

Peter was involved in recruiting Dain to NZRL and was pleased to see him do well at the Awards.

“The thing about Dain, like Don Mann, is they both have brothers with illustrious on-field careers (legendary Kiwi internationals Duane Mann and Awen Guttenbeil), yet they have made their own significant contribution to the code through their leadership roles,” says Peter.

Dain views sport as a vehicle for uplifting communities. He has helped to make Rugby League safer at grassroots level through the NZRL Injury Prevention programme, and regularly supports young talent through the Australasian NZ Representation Pathways initiative as well as the Pasifika Development Council.

“Dain is in a senior leadership role in a high profile sport and he is making a significant impact. But with this he brings a Pacific perspective, which is one of the reasons PBT is particularly keen to be associated with this category”, says Cordtz.

“He’s a good bloke, he’s driven and I think he’ll go on to bigger and better things. So being able to recognise him on the way through is great for PBT. “

For the full list of winners visit www.spasifikmag.com/hpsportleisure/Pacificislandawards/

ENDS

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