Forsyth Barr To Sponsor New Zealand’s Leading Highlander Championship

One of the heavy lifters of New Zealand’s investment scene proudly supports the country’s premier Highland championship.

The Sir Eion Edgar Southern Hemisphere Highlander Champion is chosen after a gruelling battle that includes caber tossing, rock lifting, ute pushing and more strength-based sports.

New Zealand Rural Games Founder Steve Hollander said every year, New Zealand’s best Highland athletes come to Palmerston North to compete in the event at the Ford Ranger New Zealand Rural Games.

Forsyth Barr is a New Zealand-owned business with 24 offices across the country, delivering a broad range of investment services.

Forsyth Barr Manawatū has a team of four investment advisers. Speaking on their behalf, Mark Ammundsen said that they are proud to support a heritage sport that recognises outstanding performance.

“The Rural Games are a sporting highlight right across the country. To be successful as a competitor is obviously about physical strength, but it’s just as much about mental strength. To do what these competitors do in a two hour event is pretty remarkable. We’re very pleased to be able to showcase their achievements through our support of the event.

Championship organiser Jono, ‘the Minister of Misery’ McFarlane, welcomed Forsyth Barr on board.

“The Sir Eion Edgar Southern Hemisphere Highlander Champion is an impressive, free event that is not to be missed over the Rural Games weekend.

“What makes this competition unique is the fast pace, with five events packaged into a 2-hour crowd-friendly window,” said Jono.

Competitors in the Sir Eion Edgar Southern Hemisphere Highlander Champion compete in five events - the 56lb weight for height, the Ford Ranger ute push, 28lb weight for distance, caber toss and 94kg to 158kg stones.

The event was established in 2020 and has been won by: 2021: Craig Manson, and 2020: Adam Miller. Its predecessor was the Trans Tasman Highland Heavies Championship that ran for five years at the New Zealand Rural Games.

The 2022 Ford Ranger New Zealand Rural Games is on the weekend of 11-13 March 2022 in Te Marae o Hine in Palmerston North. Sir Eion Edgar Southern Hemisphere Highlander Champion is held on Sunday 13 March from 12 pm to 2 pm.

The Ford Ranger New Zealand Rural Games is a free event that attracts more than 40,000 people. Held in The Square in Palmerston North, it is live-streamed on social media, and a one-hour television highlight programme airs on TV3 a fortnight after the Games.

The Ford Ranger New Zealand Rural Games will only proceed if the Covid-19 alert is at Level One.

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