PANUI PAPAHO / MEDIA STATEMENT
Te 30 o nga ra o Whiringa-a-rangi 2004 / 30 November 2004
ATT: Chief Reporters
Broadcasting Reporters
Sports Editors
TVNZ BROADCASTS MAORI SPORTS SPECIALS
Unsung Maori sports heroes will be celebrated in an hour-long special on TV One's Marae programme this Sunday (Dec 5) in
the build-up to TVNZ's coverage of the 2004 Trillian Trust Maori Sports Awards.
The annual ceremony - at the Auckland Showgrounds on Saturday (Dec 4) - attracts more than 1200 dignitaries, celebrities
and sportspeople who gather to honour the achievements of top Maori athletes, administrators and coaches.
TVNZ's Maori programmes department is producing a one-and-a-half hour awards show which screens from 1.30pm to 3pm on
Sunday.
Producer/director Derek Wooster - who has covered the event for TVNZ since the inaugural ceremony in 1991 - says a
special edition of Marae from 11am to 12 noon earlier that day will focus on Maori sports supporters.
They include Bay of Plenty touch rugby coach, Darkie Reedy (Ngati Porou); Te Puke tae kwon do coach Paraone Wirihana
(Waikato); Whakatane sports administrator Noel Horlock from He Oranga Poutama and the Mataatua Sports Trust;
Ngawhakawairangi Hohepa, a staunch supporter of the Rotoiti Rugby Club; Kawerau squash coach Hemi Hope; and softball
coach Sam Clarke from Whakatane.
The Marae show will also feature highlights from the Mataatua Sports Awards held in Whakatane in November.
"As we celebrate the efforts of athletes on the field, it is also an opportunity to acknowledge the unsung heroes of
Maori sport such as coaches and administrators and their work off the field," Mr Wooster says.
"This programme is dedicated to those people - the makers of champions, the backbone of Maori sports at grass-roots
level."
'Te Rongo-Tu-Taua a Maui' - honouring male Maori champions from the past - is the theme of this year's ceremony with
great Maori sportsmen of the past officially inducted into the Maori Sports Hall of Fame.
Awards in 10 categories are up for grabs including Maori sports administrator of the year; umpire/referee; sportsperson
with a disability; coach; junior sportsman and woman; senior sportsman and woman; sports team; and world champions.
Scholarships worth more than $20,000 will also be presented on the night as well as a special Maori Olympian prize, the
Maori Sports Media Award of the Year and SPARC's Best Community Initiative Award.
The entertainment line-up includes Sir Howard Morrison, Auckland cultural group Te Tira Hou, Whakatane High School's
Super 12 kapa haka troop and Rotorua classical singer Timua Brennan.
The finalists are:
Te Whanau o Waipareira Trust Maori Sports Administrator - Maui Tikitiki-a-Taranga:
Robin Manihera, Auckland (Ngati Hine, Ngati Porou) - netball
Gail McLauchlan, Christchurch (Ngati Raukawa, Ngai Te Rangi, Ngati Awa) - netball
Wiremu Neho, Whangarei (Ngapui) - golf
ACC Maori Sports Umpire - Te Aratiatia:
Lyn Farrell, North Shore/Auckland (Ngati Maniapoto) - hockey
Wiremu Tamaki, Hamilton (Waikato, Raukawa) - softball
Josef Brown, Papakura/South Auckland (Ngati Porou) - netball
Human Rights Commission/Health and Disability Commissioner Disabled Maori Sportsperson - Te Toihuarewa:
Peter Martin, Cambridge (Te Arawa) - field athletics
Sholto Taylor, Napier (Ngati Kahungunu) - wheelchair rugby
Maioro Barton, Hamilton (Ngati Wai, Ngati Porou) - wheelchair basketball/athletics
UNITEC Maori Sports Coach - Te Maru o Tumatauenga:
Chubb Tangaroa, Havelock North (Ngati Kahungunu) - softball
Dr Simeon Cairns, Auckland (Ngati Whakaaue) - table tennis
Kiwi Takao, Gisborne (Ngai Tuhoe, Ngati Porou) - waka ama
ACC Sports Team - Nga Ika a Whiro:
Aotearoa Maori Women's Sevens Rugby
NZ Maori All Blacks
Hinerupe Maidens U-16 Junior Girl's Waka Ama (Gisborne)
Te Puni Kokiri Junior Maori Sportswoman - Te Tamahine-a-Papatuanuku:
Sarah Jarvis, Hamilton (Tainui) - alpine ski racing
Airini Mason, Whakatane (Ngati Awa) - surfing
Rona Peters, Auckland (Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa) - rugby league/touch
Mighty River Power Junior Sportsman - Te Tama-a-Ranginui:
Tanerau Latimer, Te Puke (Tuhourangi) - rugby sevens/rugby
Jordan Vandermade, Auckland (Ngai Tuhoe, Ngati Te Rangi) - athletics
Hikawera Elliott, Hastings (Ngati Awa) - rugby
Fletcher Construction Senior Maori Sportswoman - Hinehuone:
Marnie Grant, Rotorua (Te Arawa) - indoor/beach volleyball
Leanne Walker, Hamilton (Te Whanau-a-Apanui) - basketball
Shelly Stephens, North Shore, Auckland (Ngapuhi) - tennis
Trillian Trust Senior Maori Sportsman - Te Tame-a-Tanenuiarangi:
Jarrad Martin, Waitara (Ngati Mutunga) - softball
Wayne Ormand, Mt Maunganui (Ngati Tuwharetoa, Ngai Tuhoe) - rugby
Kees Meeuws, France (Ngati Maru, Ngati Whare, Hauraki) - rugby
The Wanderers Club World Champion Awards:
Jason Wynyard, Henderson/West Auckland (Ngati Maniapoto, Ngapuhi) - wood-chopping
Hinerupe Maidens U-16 Junior Girl's Waka Ama, Gisborne
More information about the Maori Sports Awards is on the website http://www.maorisportsawards.co.nz/
ENDS