Four future champions from Coast supported by Solid Energy

2 May 2011

Four future champions from Coast supported by Solid Energy Amateur Sports Trust

Hokitika swimmer George Schroder’s record-setting win at last month’s Australian age group championships exemplifies the kind of determination and potential the Solid Energy Amateur Sports Trust looks for in making its twice-yearly grants.

George is one of four young West Coast sportspeople supported in the latest round of Trust funding. At the 18-23 April event in Adelaide, he broke Commonwealth Games silver medalist Glenn Snyders’ New Zealand record for 15-year-olds in the 200 metre long-course breaststroke, beating the best Australian breaststrokers to win the event.

He and promising Greymouth swimmer, Connor Kilkelly (15) will use the Trust grants to help them travel for coaching and competition. Both swimmers told the Trust that the Christchurch earthquake has made this more difficult, with fewer pool lanes now available in the city. Not having the QEII pool means having to travel further to get long-course competition experience.

Connor, a consistent top perfomer regionally across a range of swimming strokes and distances, is nationally ranked. He bakes and sells muffins to raise funds and has some support from the Greymouth Amateur Swimming Club and the local Masonic Lodge. His aim is to continue to improve his national age-group ranking across a range of swimming disciplines before considering a specialisation.

George is a member of and supported by the Hokitika Amateur Swimming Club and the Aquagym Swim Club in Christchurch. He organises raffles and gets support from Jeff Evans Plumbers, Hokitika Lions’ Club and Evan Jones Construction. The New Zealand 15-year-old long-course breaststroke champion at 50, 100 and 200 metres aims to set more New Zealand records and qualify to represent the country at the 2014 Commonwealth and 2016 Olympic Games.

Alex King (16) is another strong Hokitika watersports performer. In his field of waterskiing, Alex has been the dominant competitor in slalom for eight years and is ranked 15th overall in the world for his age. His five-year goal is to be the world under-21 champion.

Greymouth Junior Athletic Club coaches say Jordan Pinnock (14) has great potential and now needs more top-level competition and specialist coaching. In New Plymouth at Easter, Jordan captained the Canterbury team at the New Zealand Children’s Athletic Association 12 and 13 years interprovincial competition. As well as leading the team to victory overall, he won his discus (50.6m) and shot put (14.63m – a Canterbury age group record) events and amassed the most points across his four disciplines (shot put, discus, 400 and 200 metres) to win the overall title for his age group with 3,930 points. Jordan aims to improve as an athlete and told the Trust he also has an ambition to make a career in rugby league. This winter his family is taking him across to Christchurch each weekend to play for the Halswell club.

$150,000 in support since 1997
The Trust has been funding talented young West Coast Sportspeople since 1997 and in that time has distributed approximately $150,000 to more then 100 recipients. The Trust’s aim is to identify and help West Coast sportspeople who are either representing the region at a national or international level or who have the potential to do so. The grant assistance is paid to the players’ club or association to provide further training or offset the cost of travelling to compete.
Solid Energy has supported the Trust’s activities since its inception as part of the company’s community investment programme and the district’s councils also make funding contributions. Applications for grants are taken in March and September of each year and the awards are made twice a year.

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