2006 Wattie's Volunteer Coach of the Year Award
Moni Burns Named Southland's Wattie's Volunteer Coach of the Year
Southland's Wattie's Volunteer Coach of the Year was announced this morning at the Wattie's Coaching breakfast that featured guest speakers Natalie Wiegersma and Hayley Crofts. The winner of this year's award is well-known and long serving netball coach Moni Burns. Moni is a life member of Netball Southland and St. Mary's Netball club. Moni is a past Southland representative coach and is now contributing even more to netball at the grassroots level by coaching at Rimu School, James Hargest College, and with the Future Ferns programme.
Moni's resume is very impressive and the impact Moni has had on the lives of her athletes is exemplified by the comments from two of her netballers from her early coaching days with the Hawthorndale Club in the 1970's:
"I will gladly tell you about Moni as she is an amazing woman. Moni coached me for 7 years as Hawthorndale Netball team. She was a tough taskmaster but had our interests at heart. She would pick us all up to take us to practices and then drop us back home afterwards. I am sure we were not seat belted in but who cared. She treated us just like her daughters and I have a great respect for her. When I came back from England to spend some time with my father who was dying of cancer, Moni came around to visit. It was Moni who encouraged us to sit umpiring exams and a number of us carried that onto a higher level. The only thing wrong with playing for Hawthorndale was the uniform - a shocking brown skirt."
Sharon Scown (nee Hughes)
"Yes, I have to say that Moni does leave a lot of lasting impressions. It is great that she is being recognised for her time and effort with a lot of young people. My history with hawthorndale was from 1970-1984. We usually had only two teams but Moni inspired us to be the best we could be and our successful record is testament to that. We would practice as a club, on Sundays, and there were many times when practice would last for a few hours as we were having so much fun while at the same time learning about netball skills, rules and most importantly teamwork. It is very difficult to express in words how Moni has influenced us as a group and me as a person. Moni was not only me netball coach, but also a family friend and acted as my second mother in netball circles. She was a mentor for all of us girls and her ability to get us to achieve the best we could with what we had, is an important part of my make-up in the other endeavours I have taken on in my lifetime. Moni set high standards for us in all aspects of life."
Lesley McAllan (now living in Australia)
Finalists Named
Southland's Wattie's Volunteer Coach of the Year was announced this morning at the Wattie's Coaching breakfast that featured guest speakers Natalie Wiegersma and Hayley Crofts. The winner of this year's award is well-known and long serving netball coach Moni Burns. Moni is a life member of Netball Southland and St. Mary's Netball club. Moni is a past Southland representative coach and is now contributing even more to netball at the grassroots level by coaching at Rimu School, James Hargest College, and with the Future Ferns programme.
Moni's resume is very impressive and the impact Moni has had on the lives of her athletes is exemplified by the comments from two of her netballers from her early coaching days with the Hawthorndale Club in the 1970's:
"I will gladly tell you about Moni as she is an amazing woman. Moni coached me for 7 years as Hawthorndale Netball team. She was a tough taskmaster but had our interests at heart. She would pick us all up to take us to practices and then drop us back home afterwards. I am sure we were not seat belted in but who cared. She treated us just like her daughters and I have a great respect for her. When I came back from England to spend some time with my father who was dying of cancer, Moni came around to visit. It was Moni who encouraged us to sit umpiring exams and a number of us carried that onto a higher level. The only thing wrong with playing for Hawthorndale was the uniform - a shocking brown skirt."
Sharon Scown (nee Hughes)
"Yes, I have to say that Moni does leave a lot of lasting impressions. It is great that she is being recognised for her time and effort with a lot of young people. My history with hawthorndale was from 1970-1984. We usually had only two teams but Moni inspired us to be the best we could be and our successful record is testament to that. We would practice as a club, on Sundays, and there were many times when practice would last for a few hours as we were having so much fun while at the same time learning about netball skills, rules and most importantly teamwork. It is very difficult to express in words how Moni has influenced us as a group and me as a person. Moni was not only me netball coach, but also a family friend and acted as my second mother in netball circles. She was a mentor for all of us girls and her ability to get us to achieve the best we could with what we had, is an important part of my make-up in the other endeavours I have taken on in my lifetime. Moni set high standards for us in all aspects of life."
Lesley McAllan (now living in Australia)
It is very interesting that the same qualities in a coach that Natalie and Hayley spoke about are the same attributes that Sharon and Lesley speak of Moni having herself and instilling in her athletes.
The finalists for Southland's Wattie's Volunteer Coach of the Year have been announced.
This year, over 236 nominations were received !!
The judging panel of Gordon Crombie (Sport Southland), Fiona Ward (Regional Sports Director), Craig Morton (Rugby Southland), Nigel Skelt (Stadium Southland), and Lindsay Beer (Table Tennis Southland) deliberated long and hard to select 11 regional finalists.
The 11 regional finalists are:
| Monny Burns | Netball |
| Jane Bylsma | Gymnastics |
| Lynzy Francis | Rugby |
| Hemi and Kristina Harden | Squash, Rugby, Netball, Rippa Rugby, Touch |
| Kevin Holland | Rugby |
| Brenda Hope | Hockey |
| Evan Jones | Athletics |
| Angela McMinn | Netball |
| John O'Connor | Rowing |
| Barry Rait | Athletics, Weightlifting |
Southland's regional finalists were selected based on the difference they make to their athletes, the numbers of teams/athletes they coach, the amount of time they devote to volunteer coaching, how long they have been coaching, the number and content of nominations received, their general contribution to the community, and their outstanding personal attributes.
The regional winner who will go on to represent Southland at the National finals will be announced at the Wattie's Coach's breakfast being held at Stadium Southland on Thurs 14 Sept.
All regional finalists receive a prize pack from Sport Southland and Stadium Southland while the regional volunteer coach of the year receives a year's supply of Wattie's products, sporting apparel from SPARC, one year's subscription to New Zealand Coach magazine, and of course a return trip, meals and accommodation to the national finals in Auckland in November.
2006 Nominees
Was your coach nominated? Heres the list of all of the Southland Coaches nominated for The Wattie's Volunteer Coach of the Year in 2006.
| Coach | Sport(s) They Coach | Number of Nominations |
| Marie Anderson | Netball | 1 |
| Nicola Allen | Netball | 5 |
| Natalie Avellino | Netball | 3 |
| Jackie Barron | Netball | 2 |
| Andrea Baynes | ? | 1 |
| Andrea Beggs | Netball/Basketball | 2 |
| Alison Bishop | Hockey/Touch | 1 |
| Leah Blomfield | Netball | 6 |
| Grant Bolger | Rugby | 1 |
| Heather Botting | Soccer | 1 |
| Kelly Braithwaite | Hockey | 1 |
| Monnie Burns | Netball | 7 |
| Jane Bylsma | Gymnastics | 2 |
| Frances Calvert | Hockey | 1 |
| Michelle Carleton | Netball | 2 |
| Roger Collins | Rugby | 1 |
| Ginny Cowie | Netball | 1 |
| Scott Crosbie | Surf Life Saving | 1 |
| Kate Cullen | Netball | 6 |
| Lyn Cunningham | Netball | 12 |
| Amber Dackers | Netball | 1 |
| Lorraine Dallas | Squash | 3 |
| Bridget Dalzell | Netball | 2 |
| Dr Anton Decroos | Olympic Weightlifting | 2 |
| Martin de Ruyter | Soccer | 1 |
| John Drummond | Rugby | 1 |
| Ruth Dyer | Netball | 1 |
| Anna Egan | Netball | 4 |
| Julie Erskine | Netball | 4 |
| Anna Flaus | Netball | 2 |
| Lynzy Francis | Rugby | 1 |
| Makayla Gage | Netball | 1 |
| Julie Guttery | Netball | 1 |
| Kristina Harden | Netball | 8 |
| Hemi Harden | Rippa Rugby | 7 |
| Amy Henry | Netball | 10 |
| Barry Heyrick | Rugby | 1 |
| Kevin Holland | Rugby | 1 |
| Phillipa Holland | Hockey | 1 |
| Robert Holland | Athletics, Running | 1 |
| Leon Hopa | Netball | 1 |
| Brenda Hope | Hockey | 7 |
| Jill Horton | Netball | 1 |
| Wanaka Isaacs | Netball | 5 |
| Evan Jones | Athletics, Running | 1 |
| Kim Kent | Basketball | 2 |
| Hazel Leckie | Minature Horses | 1 |
| Pita Lloyd | Sports Academy | 1 |
| John MacDonald | Rugby | 1 |
| Kristy McCambridge | Aerobics | 3 |
| Angela McMinn | Netball | 12 |
| Kendall McMinn | Netball | 8 |
| Murray Marshall | Soccer | 1 |
| Vicky Matthews | Netball | 1 |
| Lynda Milne | Netball | 6 |
| Mrs Manahi | Netball | 3 |
| Mr Mangus | Rugby | 1 |
| Alistair Morris | Rowing | 2 |
| Mrs Murry | Netball | 1 |
| Tania Neho | Netball | 1 |
| Lisa Nicolson | Netball, Miniball | 1 |
| Michelle Nunn | Wheelchair Basketball | 1 |
| John O'Connor | Rowing | 1 |
| Richard Oliver | Rugby | 1 |
| Peter O'Neil | Judo | 1 |
| Wendy Ophuis | Netball | 1 |
| Angela Osborne | Netball | 3 |
| Deborah Overton | Netball | 1 |
| Michelle Pannett | Netball | 1 |
| Mark Paterson | Weightlifting | 1 |
| Charlotte Payne | Rugby | 1 |
| Gabrial Phillips | Karate | 1 |
| Vicki Potter | Netball | 4 |
| Lisa Pryce | Netball | 1 |
| Barry Rait | Weightlifting/Walking/Athletics | 2 |
| Korena Recee | Netball | 1 |
| Mr Reeves | Basketball | 2 |
| Tania Ritchie | Netball | 1 |
| Miss Robb | Touch | 1 |
| Averlea Robertson | Trampolining & Tumbling | 1 |
| Melissa Rodgers | Netball | 7 |
| Kath Russel | Netball | 2 |
| Bev Savage | Athletics | 1 |
| Steve Savory | Squash | 1 |
| Kath Simmers | Miniball | 1 |
| Trish Sinclair | Soccer | 1 |
| Kim Smyth | Netball | 1 |
| Sue Stark | T Ball | 1 |
| Judy Storey | Hockey | 1 |
| Barbara Stuart | Netball | 1 |
| Helen Sutherland | Ice Skating | 1 |
| Julie-Ann Terekia | Netball | 1 |
| Nikki Toban | Hockey | 4 |
| Erena Wainui | Basketball | 2 |
| Susan Walsh | Hockey | 1 |
| Richard Wards | Rugby, T Ball | 1 |
| Mrs Weatherall | Netball | 1 |
| Glen Webster | Judo | 1 |
| Louise West | Netball | 8 |
| Jodie Whitson | Netball | 1 |
| Danny Young | Rowing | 1 |
Media Release
4 July, 2006 - Media Release
MAKE YOUR VOLUNTEER COACH A STAR!
Nominations open tomorrow forWattie's Volunteer Coach of the Year Awards 2006
The search is on to discover New Zealand's star volunteer coaches. Wattie's Volunteer Coach of the Year awards, now in their third consecutive year, acknowledge that every volunteer coach is a star.
There are around 70,000 volunteer coaches helping New Zealand sports teams and individuals have a rewarding time with their sport. Last year 3,100 of these coaches were put forward to the Wattie's Volunteer Coach of the Year awards, and this year's programme is set to be bigger than ever.
Sponsors SPARC and Wattie's are committed to discovering and recognising even more of these outstanding individuals.
Mike McHugh, national coach consultant with SPARC's performance division, and chief judge of the awards says, "We have so many excellent volunteer coaches in New Zealand and the countless hours they dedicate to help young sportspeople reach their goals is terrific. But we all know that coaching goes beyond calling the shots from the sideline. Many coaches also act as friends, counsellors and chauffeurs to the athletes - the awards are a chance to let these stars shine."
Mike Pretty, Wattie's General Manager of Marketing, says the awards highlight the importance of volunteer contribution in the community and Wattie's is proud to have the opportunity to recognise the efforts of the sporting world's unsung heroes.
"It is a privilege to be involved in these awards as it is so important for volunteer coaches to be recognised for all that they do. Although there can be only one national winner, all nominated coaches are deserving of the title. Often nominating is recognition enough for the coaches who are thrilled, simply to be acknowledged."
The 17 Regional Sports Trusts across New Zealand promote the awards to local sports clubs, schools and teams as they search for their own Regional Wattie's Volunteer Coach of the Year. The 17 regional winners then go on as finalists vying for the title of National Wattie's Volunteer Coach of the Year, considered by a panel of well-known judges from the ranks of sports coaching and playing.
The Wattie's Volunteer Coach of the Year awards are open to all non-paid, volunteer coaches including club coaches, school coaches and anyone coaching at a non-representative level.
Last year's national winner, Mary Duggan from Christchurch, was described by her nominator as a 'Pied Piper' as she was followed by children wherever she went.
Mary says that being nominated was a huge honour, "The awards are fantastic and I was so pleased to be recognised for simply doing something I love! The children got real enjoyment by being part of my success and the title of Wattie's Volunteer Coach of the Year is something I will be proud of forever."
How to nominate:
- The Wattie's Volunteer Coach of the Year nominations are open from July 5 to August 16.
- Instant nominations can be made online at www.watties.co.nz.
- Entry forms are available to download on both Wattie's and SPARC websites or from Regional Sports Trusts.
- Awards will be given to 17 regional volunteer coach winners, two national runners up and an overall national winner who receives $5,000 to support his/her coaching development at a special awards ceremony on November 10.
- Everyone who makes a nomination is entered into the draw to win one of two prizes of $1,000 cash or one of two prizes of $500 sporting equipment for their school or club.
2005
Chris Baker
Varied
2004
Ian Hamilton
Rowing
2003
Peter Skelt
Rugby & Cricket
2002
Bert Tobia
Basketball
2001
Malcolm Walker
Various, National Volunteer Coach of the Year
2000
Graeme Hyde
Athletics
1999
Laurie Tall
Cycling
1998
Robyn Broughton
Netball
