Hon Grant Robertson
Minister for Sport and Recreation

24 May 2018 MEDIA STATEMENT
Minister congratulates first recipients of 2018 Prime Minister’s Scholarships

Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson congratulates the first round of 2018 Prime Minister’s Sport Scholarship recipients, to be recognised this evening at an awards ceremony in Cambridge hosted by High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ).

“The Government invests $4.25 million per year through HPSNZ to financially assist these outstanding athletes, coaches, officials and support team members as they juggle the demands of sports and study,” Grant Robertson says.

“It’s an honour to present the first of three tranches for 2018. Recent research to better understand the full value of sport shows the power our high performance athletes have to inspire, contributing to our national pride and identity as New Zealanders.”

“These scholarships recognise not only talent and potential to win on the world stage, but also sacrifice, hard work, dedication and discipline. The Government is proud to be able to give something back through this programme,” he says.

This year’s recipients include 301 athletes, 22 coaches, 48 officials and 35 support personnel who will each receive a maximum of $10,000 scholarship and maximum $5,000 study support. Among the first 97 to be awarded tonight are:
• 2017 World Rowing Championships doubles gold medallist John Story to complete a PhD in Biomedical Engineering through the University of Auckland.
• Cycling NZ Performance Technique Analyst Anna Higgins to complete a Master’s degree in Applied Science through Otago Polytechnic.

Note to editors:
• Two further tranches of recipients will be awarded at events later in the year. More information about the programme is available athpsnz.org.nz
• The Value of Sport presents the key findings of research commissioned by Sport NZ. See sportnz.org.nz/valueofsport for more information.

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