Rutherford College held its annual sports award evening on Friday, 26 October. The night was a celebration of both individual and team performances during the year and there were fantastic displays on the night from our Kapa Haka and Sports Committee.

The Guest Speaker on the night was Olympic Boxer, Alexis Pritchard. Alexis is a New Zealand Lightweight Boxer and had a world ranking of 8th and a Commonwealth Ranking of 2nd in her category – Women’s 60kg Lightweight and has been the 60kg New Zealand Champion for four consecutive years. Alexis has distinguished herself as a world class boxer and was the first New Zealand female to win an Olympic bout at the 2012 London Olympics. It was a great honour to hear first-hand her passion for boxing and the hard work she had to put in to achieve the levels of success she has attained. Alexis connected superbly with the audience and the message of Embrace Courage, Act Fearlessly had a very positive effect on the young athletes in attendance.

With over 120 students receiving awards for a variety of special achievements, our MC Neil Waka, created an inspiring and uplifting evening for all. We kicked off the evening congratulating the achievements of our MVP’s, most consistent player and Player of the Years for each of the individual sporting codes. After the interval, the evening moved on to individual awards which included recognition of pupils that represented their Sports at Zonal, Regional and National level. The evening ended with the presentation of the elite awards;

Junior Sportswoman – Emily Muspratt
Junior Sportsman – Harrison Chapman
Junior Outstanding Achievement – Paris Pickering (Waka Ama)
Team of the Year – 15th Grade Knock Out Team
Coach of the Year – Mr Gary Moore
Sports Coordinators Award, Service and Contribution – Mrs Gail Paul  
Senior Sportsman – Levi Fifita
Senior Sportswoman – Tayla Harold
Senior Outstanding Achievement – Zoe Taylor (Athletics) and Ryan Verney (Football)
Dux – Mollie Tagaloa

Rutherford College’s Sports Department would like to thank all of our coaches, managers and officials – your sacrifice does not go unnoticed, and you serve as an example of selflessness and passion. Last but not least, to the Parents Behind the Athletes, thank you for the hours that you spend in the car driving to practices and competitions and thank you for encouraging your children to keep going when they needed the extra push.

I hope you have all had an enjoyable year competing and we hope to see you all again next year!