On Thursday, 13 February, TJ Devery, Eden Hatalafale, Lara Craigie and myself had the incredible opportunity of attending the prestigious Halberg Awards where we were rubbing shoulders with some of NZ’s most elite athletes and coaches including Israel Adesanya who was crowned Sportsman of the Year and Rutherford’s own, Yvonne Willering who took out the Lifetime Achievement in Sport Award for the dedication she has given to netball.

Our first role at the awards was to usher the athletes and other attendees to their tables. We then had the challenging task of selling raffle tickets to raise money for the Halberg Foundation, which aims to enhance the lives of physically disabled New Zealanders by enabling them to participate in sport and recreation. The four of us and three other fortunate school groups raised an incredible $33,000 that will go towards assisting the disabled to participate in sport.

We are proud knowing that Rutherford has been a part of this and would like to thank the Halberg Foundation for the chance to attend such a wonderful night.