Sport Auckland Sporting Excellence Awards winner announced

9 November 2010, Auckland Winners of the Sport Auckland Sporting Excellence Awards were announced last night in a ceremony at Alexandra Park. The night was MCd by John McBeth and attended by the Mayor Len Brown and sporting stars such as Ivan Vicelich and Danyon Loader. In his address the Mayor stressed the importance of youth and sport in his vision for the future of Auckland City.

The overall winner of the Sport Auckland Sporting Excellence Award for 2010 was Ivan Vicelich. Ivan was chosen because of his fantastic achievements in football including a stellar World Cup with the All Whites, leading Auckland City to 5th at the World Club Championships and being named Oceania Footballer of the Year 2009.

It was a big night for Football with Ivan winning Sportsman of the year and the overall sporting excellence 2010 award, Michael Hester taking out the Referee of the year and Auckland City Football Club winning team of the year.

Sport Auckland CEO, Daniel Gerrard says "On behalf of Sport Auckland we would like to congratulate all of the winners and in particular Ivan for being the overall winner. It was fantastic to be able to celebrate the many achievements of our sportspeople in 2010 with our sporting community"

The winners for each of the individual categories were as follows:

Sport Auckland Junior Sportswoman of the Year - Teresa Adam (Swanson)

Teresa was a consistent performer on the ITU World Triathlon Circuit, she is the U23 national sprint triathlon champion, 2nd in U23 national standard distance champs, 6th in U23 Oceania Champs and 6th in U23 ITU World Triathlon champs Grand Final in Budapest.

New Zealand Sport Fishing Junior Sportsman of the Year - Liaki Moli (Manukau)

Liaki was an important member of the NZ Under 20 team that won the IRB Junior World Championships. He was a starting lock for the Auckland ITM Cup team and has been selected for the Auckland Blues squad for next years Super 15.

South Auckland Motors Referee / Umpire of the Year - – Michael Hester (Meadowbank)

Michael has had another stellar year of refereeing football, controlling games at a national level in New Zealand and Australia, and internationally for the Oceania Football Confederation, and a NZ v Australia Women’s fixture. However, Michael’s most notable achievements come as a result of his FIFA accreditation as an International Referee. FIFA selected him to officiate at the U17 World Cup, and the 2010 FIFA Word Cup in South Africa.

New Zealand Community Trust, Coach of the Year Award – Brian Evans (Sandringham)

Brian coached the World Champion Black Ferns team to their fourth consecutive world title at the IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup in England in August / September 2010. Brian has a long and successful association with the Auckland Storm women’s NPC team in 2006 & 2007, coming 2nd in 06 & winning in 07.

Asics Sportswoman of the Year Award for 2010 – Solonaima (Maria) Tutaia

Maria has had a stellar year including playing a key role in the Silver Ferns triumph at the Commonwealth Games and winning the World Fastnet Series in Manchester in November 2009.

Sportsground.co.nz Sportsman of the Year Award – Ivan Vicelich (Sandringham)

Ivan captained Auckland City FC to a fifth-placed finish at the FIFA Club World Cup Finals in December 2009. He was also named 2009 Oceania Football Confederation Player of the Year in June 2010. He was a key starting member of the All Whites’ line-up in all three World Cup games.

Artcom Design & Print Team of the Year – Auckland City Football Club (Sandringham)

Finished fifth at the FIFA Club World Cup Finals in the United Arab Emirates in December 2009. To achieve this, ACFC recorded a 2-0 victory over the host nation's champions, Al Ahli, and a last-minute 3-2 victory over African champions TP Mazembe, of DR Congo. Both are professional clubs, while ACFC is an amateur team.

Overall Sporting Excellence – Ivan Vicelich (Sandringham)

It was an excellent night recognising Auckland sportspeople for their amazing achievements on both the national and international stage.

*Hi-res images available on request

ENDS

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