Story courtesy of Steve White, Editor Club Rugby.

College Sport Wellington celebrated the sporting success over the past year of students around the region at the annual Sportsperson of the Year Awards (SPOTYS) at Te Rauparaha Arena on Sunday night.

Over 65 students were SPOTYS winners, while the awards also included Service to School, Volunteer of the Year, Student Coach of the Year, Student Official of the Year, Coach of the Year and Team of the Year recognitions. 

This year’s male and female College Young Sportsperson of the Year award winners were Erice van Leuven (Raphael House School) and Troy Plumtree (Wellington College). 

Downhill cyclist van Leuven also won the Supreme Female Award in 2023. She becomes the third two-time winner in recent years, following Darae Chung, (Chilton St James, golf) in 2020-21 and Melie Kerr (Tawa College, cricket, 2016, 17 and 18). 

Van Leuven is the current UCI Downhill Mountain Bike Junior World Champion, having won the title two years in a row, and also the 2024 UCI World Cup Overall. She has won seven UCI MTB World Cup races (six in Downhill and one in Enduro).

She was a finalist in Aotearoa New Zealand’s prestigious Halberg Awards held in February 2024, in the Sky Sport Emerging Talent category.

Van Leuven was also the recipient of College Sport Wellington’s inaugural International Achievement Award. 

New in 2024, the International Achievement Award recognises students who have reached an extremely high standard on the international stage, but who have been unable to take part in College Sport Wellington sanctioned or run competition/s due to their international sporting commitments. Recipients of this award are eligible to receive the Premier Sportsperson of the Year Award.

Plumtree is the Male Basketballer of the Year for the second year and the first male basketball player to win the supreme award since NBA superstar Steven Adams at Scots College in 2011. Plumtree is a Wellington U18 representative player and a member of the Saints NBL team. He was a member of the New Zealand U17 team that placed fourth at the FIBA World Cup earlier this year.  New Zealand’s finish was their highest ever and made One News. 

Additionally, Plumtree led Wellington College to a second consecutive Pohlen Trophy title and drove his school to fourth place at Nationals. In one game he scored 47 points. He was named in the Tournament team. Plumtree will resume duties for the Wellington Saints in 2025 before heading to a Division I college in California. 

The All-rounder of the Year awards went to Chelsey Moananu (Wellington East Girls’ College) and Wesley Faitele (Taita College). 

Moananu was a member of the Wellington and New Zealand handball team, a member of the Wellington U19 softball team, a member of the Wellington U18 rugby team and as an individual, placed third in the Senior Girls Javelin at the North Island Secondary School Track and Field Championships. For her school, she was also a member of her Touch Rugby, Rugby Sevens and Ki o Rahi teams. 

Taita College head boy Faitele was captain of the Taita College First XV this year and was selected in the Hurricanes U18 Rugby squad. He was a member of the Wellington U19 Volleyball team, as well as the Wellington Orcas U18 Rugby League team and Hutt Valley American Flag Football team. Individually, he was second in the Senior Boys 100m at the CSW Regional Athletics Championships. 

The Team of the Year awards went to the Wellington Girls’ College U18 Doubles Rowing team for winning gold at the Maadi Cup, The St Patrick’s College, Town - Premier Futsal Team, who were this year’s NZSS champions and the Wainuiomata High School Mixed Ki o Rahi Team who were third at the NZSS tournament. 

Town won the NZSS title for the fourth time since 2014. In 2017 Town smashed Napier Boys’ High School 5-0 in the senior final with future All White Liberato Cacace scoring all five goals. 

Tessa Siolo-Thompson was honoured for her extraordinary dedication and impact in winning the Contribution to Sport award. For 21 years, Tessa has devoted herself to not only coaching and coordinating volleyball at St Bernard’s and Sacred Heart Colleges, but also to shaping a culture of excellence, support, and growth that has enriched the lives of countless students.

Laulalatoa Sammy Seau (Bishop Viard College) won the fourth annual Champion of School Sport award, which recognises those individuals that exemplify the best aspects of school sport, whether that be on or off the field.

In some other code winners, St Mary’s College’s Phoenix Schwalger is this year’s CSW Netball Player of the Year, having made the New Zealand U21 team recently. Schwalger (St Mary’s College) is also a successive winner of the Netball Player of the Year gong, having made the New Zealand U21 team earlier this season. Phoenix is the daughter of former All Black John Schwalger.

St Patrick’s College, Silverstream’s Thompson Tukapua and Sacred Heart College’s Fanua Rimoni are the respective boys and girls Rugby Players of the Year. Tukapua was selected in the New Zealand Secondary Schools squad (but didn’t play owing to injury) while Rimoni was the Wellington Pride Women’s team Rookie of the Year. 

For the second year, this year’s Athletics winners both went to field athletes – and both high jumpers - with Wellington Girls’ College’s Naomi Waite and Scots College Hugo Jones winning their gongs. Jones won this award last year too. Both are preparing for the NZSS Championships in December.

Asha Young (Wellington East Girls’ College) and Troy Plumtree (Wellington College – noted above) were the Basketball code winners. 

Kate Chandler (Wellington Girls’ College) and Connor Gatward (Hutt International Boys’ School) won the cricket awards. Chandler has represented the Wellington Blaze while Gatward averaged an astonishing 90 runs per innings last season, driving HIBS to a 17-0 record. There was great excitement afterward when news spread of New Zealand's victory over India in the third test. The Black Caps are the first-ever country to whitewash powerhouse India in a home series. 

The room almost shook when powerlifters Geordina Togia (Tawa College) and Fletcher Soligo (Wellington College) received their prizes. Tobias won four gold medals at the junior powerlifting championships in Malta. She squatted 215.5kg, benched 112.5kg and deadlifted 215kg. 

Soligo deadlifted three times his body weight in winning a Commonwealth title in South Africa.

This year’s Football Players of the Year are Alyssha Eglinton (Hutt Valley High School) and Jack Perniskie (Scots College). Eglinton was also last year’s winner.

Mckaela Woodward (Kāpiti College) and Foy Kerkin (Scots College) are the girls and boys Hockey Players of the Year. Woodward is a New Zealand Under 21 Indoor rep who scored 93 goals in 105 matches for her First XI.

Yufeng Wang from Scots College made such a racket in table tennis he represented North Shore at Nationals because Wellington was unable to field a team. 

In addition to the major codes, College Sport recognised the outstanding achievements of athletes nominated in sports that have no regular local Secondary School competition, but where athletes have achieved with distinction. Winners in this category were Natasha Goggin Bowling (Kāpiti College, Ten Pin Bowling), Alana Reardon (Paraparaumu College, Scootering), Ava Baddeley (QMC, Gymnastics), Ben Pettit (HIBS, Ten Pin Bowling), Max Lee (Onslow College, Kendo) and Theo Barraud (Scots College, Gymnastics). 

The biggest cheer of the night was earned by Newlands College’s Sasha Howard who won the Athletes with Disability (AWD) award. Howard was the winner of the North City U18 Ten Pin Bowling championships and runner-up at the Special Olympics NZ Summer Games. He was a runner-up in the Doubles at the Junior Youth Nationals and a member of the winning team at the Junior Youth Nationals.

When Howard, sporting Clark Kent spectacles, received his trophy he waved it euphorically to the crowd and then leaped triumphantly to hug MC and renowned football commentator Jason Pine. Had Piney dropped Howard he would have been booed more profusely than Auckland FC goalkeeper Alexander Paulsen at Sky Stadium on Saturday. Thankfully Piney, a seasoned pro, hung on.

Article added: Friday 08 November 2024