Nick Willis Scholarships to be awarded

Nick Willis Scholarships to be awarded at 35th Colgate Games

To mark the 35th annual Colgate Games, New Zealand’s national junior athletics championship, founding sponsor Colgate-Palmolive has announced the “Nick Willis Scholarships” for outstanding young athletes.

The 2013 Colgate Games will take place in Inglewood, New Plymouth, between the 4th and 6th of January, and in Invercargill between the 11th and 13th of January, with 2,200 children expected in total.

The Nick Willis Scholarships will be awarded to four athletes at each event who display outstanding performance. Recipients will receive a donation to put towards sports gear, coaching and other resources, to help them toward their athletics goals.

New Zealand Children’s Athletics Association (NZCAA) President Jan Cockeram says, “The Colgate Games has been a formative part of the careers of some of our most celebrated athletes, and it is great to have Nick involved, to spur on the next generation.”

“Nick is a great role model for young New Zealanders, and proof that Kiwis starting at the Colgate Games can go on to compete in athletics at the highest level.”

Colgate-Palmolive and the NZCAA members Graham and Jeanette Vivian launched the Colgate Games in January 1978. The event has since seen approximately 80,000 young New Zealanders across three generations take part, including Jeff Wilson, Bernice Mene, Jacko Gill and Nick Willis.

“We hope the scholarships go some way toward inspiring our promising athletes to stay in the sport, particularly those about to enter secondary school, where access to a host of other sports and endeavours are on offer,” says Jan.

Nick Willis, who will attend the Inglewood event on January 5, says he is looking forward to returning to the Games, where he made his start in athletics.

“It is an honour to have the scholarships named after me. I had a lot of fun at the Colgate Games and look forward to meeting the promising young ones in the sport.

“There is a huge amount of volunteered time given toward the Games, and it is great to see they are still going strong after 35 years.”

Each year approximately 250 volunteers travel to the Games’ two locations, including internationally accredited officials. In 2013, in a Colgate Games first, there will also be a small contingent of young athletes from overseas competing. There has also been the introduction of photo finish technology to make each race as seamless as possible.

“It is wonderful to see the event continuing to grow and evolve after 35 years and having Colgate on board from the beginning has been a huge part of that growth,” says Jan.

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