PANUI PAPAHO / MEDIA STATEMENT
Te 6 o nga ra o Whiringa-a-rangi 2003
ATT:
Chief Reporters
Broadcasting Reporters
Sports Editors
TV COVERAGE FOR 2003 MAORI SPORTS AWARDS
Highlights of a unique world-class sports and cultural event will screen on TV One from 1.30pm to 3pm on Sunday,
November 30.
The Trillian Trust Maori Sports Awards - at the Auckland Showgrounds on Saturday, November 29 - celebrates the
contribution of Maori athletes, coaches, administrators and supporters to New Zealand's reputation as a nation of true
sporting champions.
TVNZ's Maori programmes department is producing the one-and-a-half hour show with support from the Maori broadcasting
funding agency, Te Mangai Paho, and NZ On Air.
Highlights from regional sports awards held throughout the country will also feature on Marae on TV One between 11am and
12 noon on Sunday, November 30.
Scotty Morrison from the Maori news programme, Te Karere, and actress Miriama Smith will co-host this year's Maori
Sports Awards which will pay special attention to Maori women sporting champions of the past. Te Arawa entertainer Toni
Steward will sing a tribute to these women and a special table has been set aside for them.
Singer/songwriter Ruia Aperahama, Moana and the Tribe, West Auckland kapa haka group Te Roopu Manutaki and a group from
this year's Hip Hop Tribal Challenge will perform at the black-tie ceremony which is expected to attract more than 1200
community, sports, political and corporate leaders.
Highlights from the annual Tamariki Sports and Cultural Day at South Auckland's Te Kura Kaupapa Maori a Rohe o Mangere
on Friday, November 28, will also be filmed for the delayed broadcast.
Finalists have been chosen from more than 200 nominations in 11 categories including coach and administrator of the
year, junior and senior sportsman and sportswoman of the year, sportsperson of the year with a disability, and the
supreme award - the Albie Pryor Memorial Sportsperson of the Year Award.
A new award - 'Tiori' - will acknowledge the achievements of an individual sportsperson who has consistently represented
the highest values of sporting excellence. More than $30,000 in scholarships from SFRITO, AUT and CEGs will also be
presented on the night.
Producer Derek Wooster says the annual event is a sporting icon of Maoridom and the pinnacle of Maori sporting success.
"This year's ceremony promises to be the most exciting since the inception of the Maori Sports Awards in 1991, of which
I was involved," Derek Wooster says.
"More than 1200 people will witness the extravaganza in Auckland, and thousands more will be able to enjoy the same show
the following day on television."
ENDS