New Zealand’s most decorated Olympian of all time, Dame Lisa Carrington DNZM MNZM, will be inducted into the Māori Sports Hall of Fame at an indigenous awards ceremony in Ngāruawāhia later this month (November).

Now in its 35th year, the Trillian Trust Māori Sports Awards will be hosted by Te Tohu Taakaro o Aotearoa Charitable Trust at Tūrangawaewae Marae on Saturday 29 November 2025.

As successor to her father, the late Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, the new Māori monarch, Te Arikinui Kuini Ngaa wai hono i te poo, will attend the event for the first time in her role as patron.

A two-hour live-to-air special – TE TOHU TAAKARO O AOTEAROA | Māori Sports Awards 2025 – will broadcast on Whakaata Māori as well as its online MĀORI+ platform and YouTube channel from 6.30pm to 8.30pm (repeats on Whakaata Māori on Sunday 30 November 2025 from 12 noon to 2pm).

The black-tie ceremony attracts more than 500 guests from the Māori community, sporting and corporate sector.

Winners in 10 categories will be announced with all finalists and world champions in contention for the supreme award – the prestigious Albie Pryor Memorial Māori Sports Person of the Year, Rongomaraeroa.

Trust executive director Richard (Dick) Garratt MNZM (Ngāi Tuhoe) says Dame Lisa is widely considered to be the world’s best ever canoe sprint athlete, not just among women.

Her unparalleled success includes nine Olympic medals – eight golds and one bronze across four consecutive Olympic Games – as well as 15 world championship golds.

“Dame Lisa’s induction into Te Whare Mātātapuna o te Ao Māori in recognition of her remarkable results at both the Halberg Awards and Māori Sports Awards is testament to her extraordinary talent and unwavering self-determination as well as the exceptional guidance of her coaches and the steadfast support of her humble whānau.”

The Māori Sports Awards’ category finalists, scholarship recipients and Māori Sports Hall of Fame inductee are:

TE ARATIATIA | Māori Sports Umpire/Referee of the Year

Ben O’Keeffe (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whātua), Kaipara – whutupōro | rugby

Paki Parkinson (Waikato Tainui), Tauranga – rīki | rugby league

Tiana Ngawati-Anderson (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Whakaue), Tauranga – whutupōro | rugby, whutupōro takiwhitu | rugby sevens

MĀUI TIKITIKI-Ā-TARANGA | Māori Sports Administrator of the Year

Gordon Watson (Ngāpuhi), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – poiwhana | football

Harley Wall (Taranaki, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – pā whutupōro | touch rugby

Tui Pāpuni (Ngā Pōtiki, Ngāti Whakaue), Tauranga – poirewa | volleyball

TE MARU Ō TŪMATAUENGA | Māori Sports Coach of the Year

Thomas Makea (Ngāti Kahungunu), Te Whanganui-a-Tara | Wellington – poiuka | softball

Marty Bourke (Waikato Tainui), Ōtautahi | Christchurch – whutupōro | rugby

Michael Mayne (Ngāti Awa, Ngāpuhi), Kirikiriroa | Hamilton – poiwhana | football

NGĀ IKA Ā WHIRO | Māori Sports Team of the Year

Mareikura U18 Wāhine Māori Team – whutupōro | rugby

TE TOI HUAREWA | Māori Para Athlete of the Year

Cameron Leslie MNZM (Ngāpuhi), Whangārei – Kauhoe whaikaha | Para swimming

TE KUNENGA KI PŪREHUROA | Massey University Scholarship

Te Maia Sweetman (Rangitāne ki Tāmaki Nui a Rua), Te Papaioea | Palmerston North – whutupōro | rugby, rīki | rugby league

TOITŪ KAUPAPA MĀORI MĀTAURANGA | Māori Education Trust Scholarship

Bailey Ngatai-Cribb (Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Kuia), Manawatū – pā whutupōro | touch rugby

SKILLS ACTIVE AOTEAROA | Māori Sports Awards Scholarship

Epiha Ricky Muru-Kete (Waikato Tainui), Rāhui-Pōkeka | Huntly – rīki | rugby league

TE PIKINGA O TĀWHAKI | Māori World Champions

Dr Karlina Tongotea (Ngāphui, Ngāi Tahu, Tonga), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – hiki taumaha | powerlifting

Waikura Taiapa (Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui), Katikati – kūrutu | jiu jitsu

TE TAMĀHINE-Ā-PAPATŪĀNUKU | Junior Māori Sportswoman of the Year

Braxton Sorenson-McGee (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – whutupōro | rugby

Waikura Taiapa (Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui), Katikati – kūrutu | jiu jitsu

Lexi Fyhn (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Tonga), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – Nakawhiti | Crossfit

TE TAMA-Ā-RANGINUI | Junior Māori Sportsman of the Year

Dylan Pledger (Ngāti Tūwharetoa), Ōtepoti | Dunedin – whutupōro | rugby

Maia Campbell (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou), Tūranganui-a-Kiwa | Gisborne – waka ama | outrigger canoeing

Hamiora Katu (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Waikato Tainui), Rotorua – waka ama | outrigger canoeing

HINEAHUONE | Senior Māori Sportswoman of the Year

Dr Karlina Tongotea (Ngāphui, Ngāi Tahu, Tonga), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – hiki taumaha | powerlifting

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe ONZM (Ngāpuhi), Mauao | Mount Maunganui – whutupōro | rugby

Ellesse Andrews MNZM (Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe), Ōtepoti | Dunedin – paihikara (ara āmio) | cycling (track)

TE TAMA-Ā-TANENUIĀRANGI | Senior Māori Sportsman of the Year

Reilly Makea (Ngāti Kahungunu, Muaūpoko), Te Whanganui-a-Tara | Wellington – poiuka | softball

Joseph Tapine (Ngāi Tūhoe), Ahitereiria | Australia – rīki | rugby league

Logan Tipene Rogerson (Waikato Tainui), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – poiwhana | football

TE WHARE MĀTĀTAPUNA O TE AO MĀORI | Māori Sports Hall of Fame

Dame Lisa Carrington DNZM MNZM (Te Aitanga a Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Te Whakatōhea,

Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tara Tokanui, Ngāti Maniapoto), North Harbour – waka hūkere | canoe sprint

RONGOMARAEROA | Albie Pryor Memorial Māori Sports Person of the Year

All finalists and world champions are in contention for the supreme award.

Coverage of last year’s broadcast – TE TOHU TAAKARO O AOTEAROA | Māori Sports Awards 2024 – is available to view on demand on MĀORI+.

For more information about the Māori Sports Awards, go to the website www.maorisportsawards.co.nz.

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