Campbell Wins Top Maori Sports Award

Campbell Wins Top Maori Sports Award

Champion golfer Michael Campbell beat a world-class field of finalists to take the top prize at the Maori Sports Awards ceremony in Auckland tonight (Saturday December 17).

Campbell took out the title of senior Maori sportsman at the black-tie event hosted by Te Tohu Taakaro o Aotearoa Charitable Trust before receiving a World Champion Award and then the supreme award – the Albie Pryor Memorial Maori Sportsperson of the Year. Winner of the 2005 USA Open and the World Match Play Championship in England, Campbell won Maori Sports Personality of the Year in 1995 and 2000, and was also named Athlete of the Decade by the Maori Sports Awards five years ago.

The home of Maori sport, Maori Television is the official broadcaster of the 2005 NATIONAL MAORI SPORTS AWARDS tomorrow, Sunday December 18 from 5.30 PM to 7.30 PM. The two-hour special will be presented by former Silver Fern Jenny-May Coffin and New Zealand Warriors’ Wairangi Koopu from sports show Code while actor Temuera Morrison and media personality Stacey Daniels will host the awards ceremony at the Telstra Clear Pacific Events Centre.

Te Tohu Taakaro o Aotearoa Charitable Trust executive director Richard (Dick) Garratt says the annual event was run later than usual in the year so Campbell could be present. “Michael has been a past recipient of the sportsman award and the overall award, and he has set a standard that we want all Maori athletes to aspire to,” Garratt says. “The fact that Michael is at the top of his chosen field at an international level means he is a fantastic role model for all sportspeople as well as Maoridom overall.”

A highlight on the Maori sporting calendar, catch the 2005 NATIONAL MAORI SPORTS AWARDS on Maori Television on Sunday December 18 from 5.30 PM to 7.30 PM.

2005 MAORI SPORTS AWARDS – Winners

Maori Sports Team: NZ Maori Rugby Team

Maori Sports Umpire/Referee: John Kendall (Te Arawa) – rugby

Maori Sports Administrator: Mavis Mullins (Rangitane ki Tamaki-nui-a-Rua, Te Atihaunui-a-Paparangi) – shearing and woolhandling

Disabled Maori Sportsperson: Cameron Leslie (Ngapuhi) – swimming

Maori Sports Coach: Matt Te Pou (Ngai Tuhoe) – rugby

Maori Sports Media Award: Television: Potaka Maipi, Marae (TV One), ‘Benji Marshall’

SPARC Community Initiative Award: Te Hui Ahurei a Tuhoe

Junior Maori Sportsman: Tanerau Latimer (Te Arawa) – rugby and rugby sevens

Junior Maori Sportswoman: Nadine Stone (Te Arawa, Ngati Awa) – touch rugby and basketball

Senior Maori Sportsman: Michael Campbell (Ngati Ruanui) – golf

Senior Maori Sportswoman: Shelley Kitchen (Ngapuhi) – squash

Maori World Champions: Jason Wynyard (Ngapuhi) – wood-chopping; Michael Campbell (Ngati Ruanui) – golf; Joanne Kumeroa (Te Atihaunui-a-Paparangi) – wool-handling; Christina Rimene (Ngati Kahungunu) – wool-handling; Rangimaria Brightwater-Wharf (Ngati Kahungunu) – powerlifting; Trent Woodcock (Te Arawa, Ngapuhi) – BMX racing

Maori Sports Hall of Fame: Eric Ropiha (ONZM) – equestrian; Mervyn Church (ONZM) – rodeo

The Albie Pryor Memorial Maori Sportsperson of the Year: Michael Campbell (Ngati Ruanui) – golf

ENDS

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