2003 Wattie's Volunteer Coach of the Year Award

The Southland Volunteer Coach Awards are an annual event promoted by Sport Southland.

The 2003 Southland Volunteer Coach of the Year was announced at the Annual Coaches Count Breakfast held at Stadium Southland on 28 November 2003.

ACC Injury Prevention Consultant, Nicola Miller, presented the winning coach Peter Skelt with his prize pack supplied by ACC:

• Trophy
• ACC First Aid Kit to the value of $150.00
• One year's subscription to the NZ Coach Journal
• Complimentary registration to any Coaching New Zealand course (own choice)
• "Coaches Count" merchandise to the value of $200

2003 Finalists

Profile - Peter Skelt

Summer Coaching
Southland Boys High School 1st XI Cricket Team
1st Southland Wide Secondary School Championships
1st South Island Secondary School Championships
4th New Zealand Secondary School Championships
Assistant Coach - Rosedale Intermediate School Girls Cricket Team
1st Southland Intermediate Girls Cricket Championships
1st South Island Intermediate Girls Championships
4th New Zealand Intermediate Girls Championships

Winter Coaching
Southland Boys High School 1st XV Rugby Team
1st Southland Secondary School Championships
1st Southland Premiere Development Competition
1st South Island Secondary School Championships
3rd New Zealand Secondary School Championships

Representative Teams
Coaches Southland Secondary School Rugby Team
Southland Under 15 & Under 17 Cricket Team
Coaches Southland Girls Under 15 Cricket Team
Selector of the Southland Under 18 Rugby Team

Peter Skelt is a fantastic coach who has spent more than 20 years coaching sport. As a former New Zealand Badminton and Southland Cricket Representative Peter has a variety of excellent sporting experiences. Peter is an Economic and Physical Education teacher at Southland Boys High School. He is involved in delivering Physical Education to many students.

Peter's teams have had an extremely successful year with having achieved terrific results in Southland wide, Regional and Intermediate and Secondary School New Zealand Championships.

Peter has a great ability to gain the respect from the athletes he coaches. His teams are always commended for the exceptional way they conduct themselves on and off the field and have a great reputation.

Peter has an extremely strong focus on the technical aspects in Rugby and Cricket and this expertise has helped see his teams develop into strong technical sides. Peter believes that educating players on the history and traditions of the sport play an important role in athletes achieving respect for the sport, teammates and other competitors.

"I'll often sit down with a team and talk about the history of the sport they're playing because it is important for them to know that they too are part of that history. Even if they're just having a game on the school field - they're adding to the history of the game" says Peter Skelt.

Peter enjoys coaching because he has seen how sport can help mould students lives and with young people today having so many negative choices in life, Peter believes that positive sporting experiences can help students achieve greater things in life.

Peter also tries to encourage players to keep in mind the importance of both enjoying sport and getting a good education and encourages his players to excel in both areas.

When asked what was the best thing about coaching, Peter answered "when I see players giving their individual best". He tries to focus on encouraging all players to achieve even if they are not naturally gifted and believes in getting the best out of everyone.

Peter Skelt is an excellent coach and is always willing to share his experience and technical advice with other coaches and students. Many of his athletes have been selected to play at Regional, National and International levels. His rugby players have advanced to NPC and Super 12 teams and believe that Peter has been instrumental in these achievements. Some of these players include Mils Muliaina, Corey Flynn and Jamie Mackintosh.

Peter is an excellent role model for both students and coaches and believes that his coaching role is an extension of his job as a teacher. He is happy to do it, because he is passionate about sport and takes please in seeing his students achieve.

Peter's passion, dedication and enthusiasm for sport have seen him develop into an outstanding team coach. It was because of these achievements Peter was awarded the 2003 Southland Volunteer Coach of the Year title.

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