TV Coverage For 2003 Maori Sports Awards

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

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