Logan Brown Coach of the Month

 

“coaches, the unsung heroes in our sporting community”

 

Sport Wellington in association with our principal sponsor Logan Brown, recognises the crucial role that coaches play in the sport and recreation sector. We appreciate that if sport and recreation organisations are to achieve higher participation rates and meet the needs of their membership, it is vital that the contributions people make through coaching are actively supported and valued. The Logan Brown Coach of the Month Award recognises the value of coaches in our sporting community. Logan Brown is synonymous with excellence and service, values which align closely with the positive aspects of coaching.

The Award

Each month the winner of the Logan Brown Coach of the Month award will receive a Logan Brown Bistro Lunch for two for two with wine tasting options. In addition to this the winner will be presented with a certificate of recognition of their services to their sport.

Nominate Now

If you know of someone who deserves recognition for the countless quality time they put into coaching then:

 

The Radio Network

The Radio Network is now a media partner of the awards. Tune into Radio Sport (1503am) for information on the awards and the announcement of the monthly winners. This partnership represents a fantastic opportunity for your sport to get more exposure within the sporting community.

 

 

 

Nomination form

Recent winners

 

Fili Liua'ana has been coaching rowing at Onslow College and the Wellington Rowing Club for many years. He has selflessly given hours of his time to provide an opportunity for young rowers within the school and club to experience this sport.

Sport Wellington’s Community Coaching Advisor Mark Watson says “Fili has a real passion for rowing and coaching and see’s his role as helping to develop the life skills of these young people through sport. People like Fili are invaluable to our school sporting community, by giving their time and knowledge to assist young athletes to enjoy sport.”

  

Marcus Howie is the coach of the Wairarapa Bush U14 representative rugby team. He receives this award for his initiative in developing an U14 representative programme and a player development programme for this age group in the Wairarapa. Marcus’s dedication and enthusiasm for the sport extended to organising the venues, transport, sponsorship and fundraising activities for the team. He also organized pre representative season practice games involving many other provinces in the Hurricanes region, allowing more children the opportunity to experience playing rugby at this level.

Marcus’s coaching also extends to coaching at Taratahi College and he is described as a passionate supporter of Wairarapa Bush rugby and represents all that is good about grassroots volunteers.


Phil Roache is the Logan Brown Coach of the Month for September 2011. Phil is the coach of the Naenae College U15 Rugby League team. He has done a fantastic job managing and coaching these young men. His experience and awareness gained from years of coaching, in particular the successful Porirua Vikings premier team, has allowed him to mould together a very successful team.  He travels over 60km every week to take training sessions with this group of young players, highlighting his dedication to this school team.

Naomi Ratana is the Logan Brown Coach of the Month for July 2011. Naomi coaches a number of Netball teams at Paekakariki School and her dedication to coaching sees her at the school four days a week with students aged from five to 12 years. Naomi is passionate about ensuring young children enjoy their Netball experience and offers encouragement to all regardless of their ability. When not coaching Netball at the school, Naomi helps to raise funds for Netball gear by organising sausage sizzles.

Naomi’s other interest is in coaching Tennis, so when she is not at Netball you will catch her down at the Paekakariki Tennis club coaching children from the Paekakariki Community

 

Alana Webb coaches teams on the Kapiti Coast and is passionate about Hockey, basing her coaching philosophy on developing the fundamental skills. Alana spends a lot of time coaching throughout the year in a variety of sports, including Touch, Athletics and Golf. Without Alana’s passion for coaching many young people on the Kapiti Coast would not be playing sport. As well as coaching Alana devotes time as an Administrator carrying out the role of Junior Coordinator for Kapiti Junior Hockey.

 

April winner John Martin coaches full bore and small bore target shooting at Karori Rifle Club, Ngaio Home Guard Rifle Club and Onslow College. John’s coaching philosophy is “Keep it simple” - not to over think the task at hand. ‘Get the basics right’ and performances will flourish. And flourish is what the shooters he is associated with are doing. Four have made the NZ U25 Junior Rifle Team to compete in Brisbane at the World Championships in October. But equally important to John and his club is the development and implementation of a successful Learn to Shoot Programme with Onslow College aimed at introducing students to experience this amazing sport with many of the students continuing on at club level.
Robin Cutting (back right in sunglasses) is the February Coach of the month for his role in guiding the Wellington Women’s Representative Softball team to success at the recent national provincial championships. This is the first time for 16 years that Wellington has won this event. This young team with a couple of veterans combined into a focused unit under Robin’s tutelage. His excellent knowledge and experience crystallized this team into a winning unit which never gave up and had some superb come from behind wins to take the title.
Tom Makea is the Coach of the Month for January. Tom coached the Wellington Under 19 Boys representative softball team to win the national title recently. His organisation, planning, preparation and tactical knowledge guided the young team through the tournament with an unbeaten record, a feat that has not occurred for many years. Tom instilled discipline and team unity to ensure they were focused on their goal of winning the national championship.
The December Coach of the Month is Greg O’Brien (holding planks) who coaches Taekwondo for the Hutt City Club. Through his excellent programmes and tutelage two of his athletes won medals at the recent Oceania Championships in New Caledonia. Staci and Samantha Knox won the Gold medal in the teams event, while in the individual event Samantha won the Silver medal and Staci the Bronze. During 2010 the teenagers entered a number of selection tournaments and earned a national ranking of No. 1 in the team’s event. Individually Samantha was placed first and Staci second.
The November Coach of the Month is Waimarama Taumaunu who assisted in guiding the Silver Ferns to win the gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The former international athlete has a vast range of coaching experience from grass roots to the international arena. As well as her coaching role with the Silver Ferns she is also the High Performance Director for Netball Wellington Region.

Gary Hurring is the October Coach of the Month. The former Olympian and Commonwealth Games Gold medallist is the Head Coach for the Capital Swim Club which is the no. 1 club in the region plus regularly in the top three nation wide. This outstanding club has produced numerous national champions and record holders who have represented New Zealand at various international levels. Two of Gary’s protégées are Gareth Kean and Tash Hind who were successful medallist’s at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Matt Calcott is the Coach of the Month for September. Matt guided his club team, Miramar Rangers, in winning the Chatham Cup which represents the pinnacle for premier club football in New Zealand. His communication skills, game knowledge and true patience are attributes that he has instilled into his athletes and united them as a team into a winning unit.
The August Coach of the Month is Frank Rees who led the Northern United Rugby team to success by winning the Jubilee Cup which represents club rugby supremacy in the Wellington region. North's also won the Swindale Shield, the first round competition for all 12 teams. Like all volunteer coaches he is an "unsung hero" who has given numerous hours, energy and passion to ensure his club and team are the best in the region. Frank's communication skills, sport specific knowledge, planning and personality have all contributed to the success of the 2010 club champions.

 

Pero Cameron is the July Coach of the Month for guiding the Exodus Saints to the National Basketball League title. This was an outstanding achievement in his first year as a fulltime coach in the national league. Pero's knowledge, skill and superb leadership were attributes that were instilled into his athletes, individually and collectively, to becoming a champion team.

 

The Coach of the Month for June is John Manuel who coaches rugby at Naenae College. John has setup a school Rugby Academy to assist and support coaches in all areas of coaching including mentoring. The Academy also assists in developing the students into better rugby athletes through sport specific and generic activities which includes weekend training camps, elite motivational speakers, specialist coaching, and Code of Conduct for on/off field demeanor. The Academy slogan is "Pride, Passion and Performance" and has made a huge impact on everyone involved and has increased the number of teams at the college including a girls team.

 

Vanessa Donaldson is the Coach of the Month for May. Vanessa is a parent at Plateau Primary School and works tirelessly to co-ordinate all the school netball teams. The multi-talented coach conducts planning meetings, distributes uniforms as well as coaching one of the school teams.

Vanessa has been fulfilling these roles for many years, she does such a brilliant job that the school could not succeed without her contribution. She is also a part-time teacher so any spare time is devoted to the students in the sporting arena. Her wonderful and positive personality assists in developing the strengths and confidence of the students.

 

The April Coach of the Month is Rhys Pettett (far right) who coached the Newlands College Boys Softball Team which recently won the National Secondary Schools Championship in Hastings. He created a totally focused successful team with an amazing team spirit which was reflective in their skill level as they were unbeaten in 10 games. Rhys had excellent rapport with all team members who have enormous respect for their coach.

 


 Kath Delahunty is the Coach of the Month for March. Kath has organised all the Touch and Miniball teams and coached for many years at Sacred Heart Primary School, Petone. She gives endless hours for practise at lunch times and games after school. Kath's enthusiasm with the students is infectious and her skills as a coach outstanding and this has seen the increased number of Touch teams each year. Kath's positive attitude well and truly supports and displays the healthy and active school vision.

 

The February Coach of the Month is Davey Forbes who is the strength & conditioning coach for Matt Steven who won the recent Junior World OK Dinghy championships.Davey was responsible for getting Matt into peak physical condition for the international event, his sport specific programmes and commitment assisted immensely in the World title success.

 


 The January Coach of the Month is Plaxton Mendoza who coached the Hutt Valley Under 15 Girls representative Softball team at the North Island championship in Palmerston North. The team won the 4 day event with an impressive display and beat the highly fancied Auckland team in a close and exciting Final. The planning and preparation for the event was excellent focusing on team unity and the skills required for the tactics that were implemented. At the conclusion of the final Plaxton was named as the coach of the North Island tournament team.

 

The Coach of the Month for December is Thomas Makea who coached and prepared the Wellington Men's representative Softball team to win the National Fastpitch Provincial championship in Christchurch. This was a great achievement, as early in the season Wellington were struggling to field a team however due to Thomas's outstanding leadership skills and experiences as a high performance athlete he assembled a group of youth and experience to mould them into a champion team.

 


  

The November Coach of the Month is Ricki Herbert who guided the All Whites to success over Bahrain in the Football World Cup qualifying games. Ricki, an Evans Bay resident, was instrumental in planning the World Cup campaign for the past two years and now joins an elite group in representing his country at this prestigious event as an athlete (1982) and as a coach (2010).

 


 

 

The October Coach of the Month is Rob Pilitati who coaches Netball at Newlands Intermediate School.

Rob has had an outstanding season with this young group of girls who have made excellent progress collectively and individually. As a team they were undefeated in the Northern Suburbs Year 7A grade, were promoted to the Year 8A league competition and won that competition too. They also won the Year 7 Springtime tournament in Levin competing against teams from other regions.

Six players were selected for the Northern Suburbs Representative team, as Rob says "They are a brilliant team with amazing futures."

 

Simon George and Craig Hopkins are the Coach of the Month for September. They are the co-coaches of the Olympic Football Club which won the prestigious Chatham Cup, something the club has strived to achieve for the past 50 years.

Both have worked extremely hard for the past nine months developing the Olympic team into a focused and determined group, with a record of 25 undefeated League and Cup games.

They have contributed a huge number of hours pre-season and in-season plus extra trainings to ensure that all the team were prepared mentally and physically to achieve their ultimate objective of winning Football New Zealand’s top competition.