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Pike River Memorial sports scholarship honours mine victims
Monday 11 July 2011
Pike River Memorial sports scholarship honours mine victims
A sports scholarship in tribute to the Pike River mine disaster victims, and in particular the three Blaketown Rugby Club players who lost their lives, will be launched at a commemorative dinner in Greymouth tonight (Monday 11 July).
The dinner previews the source of funding for the sports scholarship - the Black Boot Legends photographic galleries of pre-professional All Black rugby which will be opened for public viewing in September and October.
“This will be an annual assistance grant made to young West Coast people to help them reach their sporting dream,” says scholarship trustee Gerry Morris.
“We believe this is a fitting honour of the Pike River victims who tragically lost their lives in the explosion at the mine in November last year, including the three young rugby players Michael Monk, 23, Riki Keane, 28, and Blair Sims, 28.”
The launch of the Blaketown Rugby Club Pike River Memorial Trust will be held at a dinner in the clubrooms at McLean Park, Tiphead Road, Greymouth, starting at 6pm tonight. Guest speakers are All Black captain Andy Leslie and rugby broadcaster John McBeth.
Chair of the trustees is New Zealand cricket captain Stephen Fleming who is unable to attend tonight. Other trustees attending the function are Wellington barrister and sports philanthropist Greg King, Wellington specialist trust lawyer David Butler, Blaketown Rugby Club president John Pfeifer, and leading New Zealand public relations specialist Gerry Morris, formerly of Greymouth.
Funds for the trust will come from the auction of 50 signed All Black rugby images taken from the Black Boot Legends Galleries that will be on public display in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in September and October. The auction of the images, signed by All Blacks from the pre-professional, pre-1995 era when most wore black boots, will be held on Trade Me in late October.
The Black Boot Legends Galleries will feature at Auckland’s Britomart Transport Centre, Wellington’s waterfront near Te Papa, and on the red zone fences along Worcester Boulevard in Christchurch Central. Most of the images have never been seen publicly before and have been sourced from the photographic collections of four well-known sports photographers.
Venue: Blaketown Rugby Clubrooms, McLean Park, Tiphead Road, Greymouth 6pm, Monday 11 July 2011
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