I believe that a fantastic night was had by all at the Bay of Plenty Sports Awards held at BayPark last Friday evening. The Sports Awards adage of ‘Growing Champions Taking on the World' says it all about Bay of Plenty athletes who compete on the national and world stage.

The night saluted not only the regional athletes' performances, but also recognised the massive contribution from coaches and officials. The quality of the current Bay sports achievers was summed up by the supreme award winner going to double world BMX champion Sarah Walker.
The Bay of Plenty Sports Awards go back to the 1960s. While the year inscribed on the trophy is shown as 1969, the Supreme Award is believed to have been presented from the early 1960s. Bay of Plenty cricket history recalls New Zealand wicketkeeper Eric Petrie receiving the sportsman of the year in the mid 1960s.
The first recorded winner was probably one of the most versatile sportswomen to come out of the Bay of Plenty. Una Wickham received the Supreme Award in 1969 for her achievements in winning the New Zealand golf strokeplay and matchplay titles in 1969.
While Una represented New Zealand in golf, she also wore her country's colours in cricket and hockey. In 1948 she played a cricket test against Australia, and the following year was selected to play against England.
The 1970 Supreme Award was won by one of the most amazing long distance runners to represent New Zealand. Jack Foster took up running marathons at an age when most athletes contemplate retirement. As with a good wine, Jack got better with age, with an undoubted highlight of his career being the silver medal he won at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch. His effort to record 2 hours, 11 minutes and 19 seconds was the then fastest marathon ever run by a kiwi athlete.
Wybo Veldman, who won an Olympic Gold medal in rowing, was presented with the supreme award in 1971 followed by Eve Rimmer and Mike Nicholson 1972 and 1973 respectively. Rimmer was the first paraplegic sportswoman to establish a profile for her performances in athletics, while Mike Nicholson is still involved in golf to this day.
Rolling through the years are such upstanding sportsmen as Greg Rowlands (1976), who still holds the record for the most matches for the Bay of Plenty rugby team, and Geoff Howarth (1981) and Lance Cairns (1983) known for their deeds on the cricket pitches of the world. Simon Wi Rutene (1986) dominated skiing for a decade in the country whilst Gordon Tietjens (1998) and Moss Burmester (2002) are still hitting the sports papers headlines today.
The sportswomen of the region have made no less a contribution to sport in this country than the men. The 1989 supreme award went to swimmer Toni Jeffs who some 15 years later narrowly missed qualifying for the 2004 Olympic Games. Power lifter Cathy Millen's name was engraved on the trophy in 1994 while Renee Fowler was rewarded for her achievements in golf in 1997.
However, the most exciting feature of today is the amazing number of nominations that were received for the Junior and Secondary Schools awards. The future is well and truly in the hands of a large and diverse of Bay of Plenty sporting youngsters.