Canterbury Sports Awards 2010

Jenny Hung was nominated for the Outstanding Sportsperson of the Year. This category was won by Richie McCaw so Jenny was always up against a very high standard of competition for this award. Jenny's achievements over the past 12 months saw her winning a variety of events, the highlight being the Oceania Under 21 singles title. Jenny also featured as one of the New Zealand women's team to firstly qualify for and then attend the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Jack Jacobs has also had a very good year and this earned him a nomination for Outstanding Sportsperson with a disability. Jack won medals in competition in Australia and performed magnificently in the NZ National AWD table Tennis Champs at North Harbour winning two Gold Medals. Jack was up against very stern competition in his category. The winner was Sophy Pascoe a multi-record breaking swimmer with numerous National and International wins throughout 2010.

Alan Moore was also up against some very high profile sports officials in the Outstanding Sports Official of the Year category. Alan had a busy 12 months with duties including refereeing Canterbury tournaments, the South Championships the Global Circuit tournament in Auckland and going to Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games. These activities did not match up to the winner of Official of the Year, Nigel Iggo a hockey referee with a huge list of achievements including world championships along with a great deal of domestic tournaments.

The Sports awards are an annual event run by Sport Canterbury celebrating the amazing achievements of Canterbury sports people across a wide range of sporting activities. Included in the evening each year are the inductions of two Canterbury Sports Legends. This year saw the recognition of Annelise Coburger and Sir Richard Hadlee as sporting legends. They join the other illustrious legends already on the roster: Ivan Mauger, Joan Harnett, Grizz Wylie, Yvette Williams, Judy Blair, and Fergie McCormack.

Mayor Bob Parker spoke very well about how important sport is to this province. The contribution to the community made by the volunteers who run sport throughout the Canterbury region is enormous, and particularly over the past two months as we recover from the devastation of the earthquake of September 4th. He highlighted the pride we can take in the achievements of our sports men and women who strive to reach their best in their chosen fields of sporting endeavour.

Jack Jacobs, finalist in Sports Person with a Disability Section and Alan Moore (red tie), official of the Year attending and receiving their trophies