Giants and Makos form closer ties

News Release
Embargoed until 12 noon March 9, 2010

Giants and Makos form closer ties through NMIT Scholarships

The region’s top sports teams are coming together in the classroom and on the field as part of a push to keep hold of our talented sportspeople.

NMIT has announced the latest sponsorship agreement where they are the official education partners of the both the Nelson Giants and the Tasman Rugby Union. The deal gives a total of $18,000 value of student fees - $9000 for each sport, for the year.

Nelson Giants Marketing and Sponsorship Manager, James King, who graduated last year as part of the sponsorship programme from his time at the Makos academy, says it’s a brilliant sponsorship that benefits individual players and the region’s sport.

“I know that from my personal experience getting a degree in Sport and Recreation through NMIT and AUT gave me incredible motivation on the field . You go and study and come back to training with a fresh mind, rather than living and breathing your sport 24/7. It definitely adds something to your game.”

Professional development manager for Tasman Rugby Union, Shaaron Adams says selection for the scholarship doesn’t mean these players are tagged to get into the squad.

“That’s done purely on game performance. What these scholarships mean for us are that they help the players become a rounded person. We want our top level rugby players to be good at rugby but also have maturity and skills and not have everything handed to them on a plate. If they were only focused on rugby that’s not the kind of person we want to encourage, it’s the breadth and the maturity that comes from being successful in a couple of arenas, such as academically, where real strength comes from, “she says.

The chosen recipients for this year’s scholarships are:

Nelson Giants: Josh Bloxham, Sam Dempster, Bronson Beri
Tasman Rugby Union: Academy players – James Hadfield, Kim Bateman, Tom Marshall and Jerome Harimate.

The majority of players will be studying Applied Fitness, Josh Bloxham will be studying towards a Bachelor of Commerce.

Josh started his degree study last year when he won a Prime Minister’s scholarship after making the under 19 Tall Blacks. He agrees that while studying and playing needs some time management skills, it’s good for his game.
“It can be a real positive, as it gets your head away from just the basketball and gives you a mental break, so when you get back into playing or training you’re refreshed.

I’m also pleased about getting the scholarship because the fact I was chosen shows they’re interested in me, so that’s another incentive to do well on the court. I think it’s pretty cool that I get the chance to further my career in something other than basketball. The bottom line is it means I’ll stay in the region,” says Josh Bloxham.

NMIT Chief Executive Tony Gray says it’s a particularly important scholarship as the benefits can be seen across all sections of community.

“To have these talented young people commit to study and strive for qualifications is a great example and motivation for so many young people who follow the sports. It shows them that there are huge opportunities right here in their home town. We’re proud to be able to support these sports in this very tangible way, and to have players from these teams as part of the NMIT student body. ” says Tony Gray.

Tasman Rugby Union’s Shaaron Adams says it’s very encouraging that NMIT recognises the whole man, not just the rugby player.

“Rugby is part of these players lives, and in the Makos Academy it’s a very large part of their lives at the moment, but these scholarships recognise that they need to have skills outside of rugby to do well at rugby. Their qualifications will show both an employer and those in the sporting arena that these guys have what it takes to succeed and survive at a high level – they can combine really high sporting aspirations and success in the academic arena.”

Shaaron Adams says each scholarship recipient will be managed carefully so that the academic and sporting requirements don’t suffer.

“In my role I meet with them to look at how they’re going in terms of their performance on the field and how they’re performing in terms of study and we want to make sure they pass. So each semester and they have to show us and NMIT that they’re performing and then they get the scholarship for the next semester.”

TRU Academy player Tom Marshall was a recipient of a scholarship last year and is looking forward to studying Applied Fitness Year 2 this year.
“It will definitely be good having Giants player Bronson Beri in the classroom this year. You can take a lot of their skills and put it into our game and vice versa. Just seeing what different training principles they combine will be a big bonus for me.

“It’s not easy doing the rugby and the academic side, especially as the season is full on right when it’s exam time, but NMIT allows you a lot of flexibility to pick up papers or drop them in the short-term to help you get through,” says Tom Marshall.

The Nelson Giants, James King is hopeful the scholarships across both codes will see a new era of co-operation between basketball and rugby in the top-of-the-south.

“I think the more we can work together when we can to heighten the profile of both our sports then better it will be. We’re the two big sporting entities in Nelson and we should be helping each other rather than staying separate. We recently did a combined speed training session and now we’ll have players from both sports side-by-side in the classroom at NMIT. Just to build that relationship has to be great for our region, “says James King.

ends

© Scoop Media