Described as a 'well-rounded and motivated young man”, Toby Cunliffe-Steel is this week the proud recipient of a $2500 regional scholarship from The Arrow Foundation.


Toby Cunliffe-Steel receives his Arrow Foundation Leadership scholarship from Arrow representative Roy Lehndorf.

Toby, who was head boy at Tauranga Boys' College this year, was recognised for his impressive efforts in academia, sports and the wider community by the judges.

He was told he would 'grow to become a leader of significance”.

Eight young leaders from all over New Zealand were awarded the scholarship.

Arrow Foundation and Arrow International chief executive Hugh Morrison says the scholarship aims to assist Year 13 students with university tuition fees.

'The quality of the applications was absolutely humbling,” says Hugh.

'There are some quite outstanding individuals out there.”

Toby plans to study a Bachelor of Physical Education at Otago University next year. While he doesn't know where the degree will take him, he says physical education was 'the right path to go down” because of his passion for competitive rowing.

The award came as a surprise, but Toby says it was a 'big honour” to receive it.

'The Arrow representative was at the last assembly for the year and I didn't really know why he was there,” says Toby, 'but he got up and awarded it to me”.

'It is a really big help for the future because rowing costs a lot and now I can focus on my rowing and sport.”

During the summer, Toby is living in Cambridge, participating in regattas every second weekend on Lake Karapiro for an initiative run by Rowing New Zealand.