Kiwis Face Tough Choice for Sportsman Finals

29 November 2005

Kiwis Face Tough Choice for Sportsman Finals

From the weekend’s Grand Slam to this year’s US Open it has been a stellar year for New Zealand sportsmen making it all the more difficult for New Zealanders to select their favourite finalist in the Freedom Air People’s Choice Sports Awards.

The five contenders were named last night (Monday November 28th) and now sports fans have until Friday December 9th to vote, have their say and get their favourite sports star onto the podium on awards night.

Competition will be intense with the finalists including All Black Daniel Carter, All Black Captain Tana Umaga, US Open winner Michael Campbell, Black Cap Daniel Vettori and 2005 World Championship Gold Medal single scull rower Mahe Drysdale.

The Freedom Air People’s Choice Sports Awards are New Zealand’s only sports awards where the public decides the results by choosing the people they feel are most deserving of recognition. Funds raised from voting goes to Paralympics New Zealand.

The public can vote now for the overall top sportsman and help raise money for Paralympics New Zealand at the same time. Proceeds will help Paralympics New Zealand in its quest for medals at the Beijing Paralympics in 2008. Last year the awards raised more than $125,000.

Money raised from this year’s awards will go towards Paralympics New Zealand’s high performance programme, a multi-million dollar initiative including training, coaching, sports science and medicine support costs. A key component of the programme is sending athletes to international competitions such as International Paralympic Committee World Championships and FESPIC Games to ensure they can compete at the highest level.

There are six categories in this year’s awards with New Zealanders being able to choose their favourite sports team, coach, sporting icon, sports woman, sports man and international sports person.

The five finalists in each category are being announced each week on SKY Sport One and Sport Radio from October 31 to December 5. As soon as the finalists for each category are announced New Zealanders can vote for their favourite. The winners will be announced at a gala dinner on December 9.

There are three ways to vote – via SKY Television Interactive, phone 0900 33334 or text 3334. Remote and SMS voting cost 99 cents including GST and 0900 voting costs 99 cents per minute.

New Zealanders with Vodafone 3G handsets can review the finalists’ profiles on their handset before they vote for their favourite.

Freedom Air People’s Choice Sports Awards Key Dates
5 December International finalists announced (8.30pm)
8 December Voting for six main categories close (midnight)
9 December Gala Dinner & winners announced

ENDS

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