It is time to celebrate Waitaki’s sporting success.
Nominations for the 2022 Waitaki Sports Awards open tomorrow. The awards honour the sporting achievements from the past year.
The awards, sponsored by Network Waitaki, will be held in March next year with a yet-to-be-announced guest speaker.
The 2021 awards were held in May this year, as organisers were forced to postpone the original March date due to the Omicron outbreak.
Sport Waitaki co-ordinator Pip Sutton said it was great to return the awards to their usual schedule and be able to celebrate properly.
‘‘I’m excited for nominations, as this has been a normal-ish year,’’ Miss Sutton said.
‘‘As in we’ve not had any lockdowns. Events have kind of happened in one way, shape, or another.’’
About 12 categories are up for grabs, including emerging talents, masters sportsperson, services to sport, official in sport, coach of the year and team of the year. There are also categories for top junior sportswoman and sportsman and senior sportswoman and sportsman of the year.
Three-time world motocross champion Courtney Duncan took home the top gong, the supreme award, for the fourth time at the previous awards.
There will also be an induction into the Waitaki Sports Hall of Fame. Former Otago Daily Times and Oamaru Mail correspondent the late Terry O’Neill and New Zealand’s first winter Olympian, Herbie Familton, were inducted earlier this year.
Nomination forms can be found on the North Otago Sports Bodies website. Nominations close on November 30.
