Recreation Aotearoa recognises outstanding industry professionals in national awards ceremony

Recreation Aotearoa recognises outstanding industry professionals in national awards ceremony

Top performers in New Zealand’s recreation industry have been recognised at the 2020/2021 National Awards Ceremony.

Presented online last Wednesday after two years of delay due to COVID-19 restrictions, 10 awards were presented to recognise outstanding industry achievements.

Commenting on the presentations, Recreation Aotearoa Chief Executive, Andrew Leslie stated “it felt great to finally be able to honour the incredible people and projects within Aotearoa’s recreation sector.

“There has been a high calibre of work taking place over the last few years, even with the disruption of COVID-19, and it feels more important than ever to celebrate these successes.”

Six Outstanding Awards and four Individual Awards were presented.

Outstanding Awards:
• Outstanding Project
Hutt City Council for the development and delivery of Play in the Hutt (pictured above)
A Merit Award was given to Selwyn District Council for the Selwyn Sports Centre.

• Outstanding Event
Harakeke Down South for the Murihiku Matariki Festival. 

Christchurch City Council received a Merit Award for the 2021 Walking Festival.

• Outstanding Park
Invercargill City Council’s Queens Park.

• Outstanding Pool
Belgravia Leisure’s Trust House Recreation Centre in Masterton.

• Outstanding Community Recreation Programme
Wellington City Council for their LeisureCard. 
Two Merit Awards were given to Sport Waikato for their This is ME® programme, and Gap Filler for Placemaking at One Central.

• Outstanding Research, Planning, and Policy
Invercargill City Council for Our Trees - A Tatou Rākau, their 2020 tree plan.

2020/2021 Individual Awards:
• Paul Stuart Memorial Award for services to facility management
Nigel Skelt of ILT Stadium Southland.

• Ian Galloway Memorial Cup for services to the wider parks industry
Sally Sheedy of Waipā District Council.

• Mark Mitchell Memorial Trophy for services to the wider recreation industry 
Brendon McDermott of Active Southland.

• Emerging Recreation Leader of the Year
Elise Yule of Xyst.

In addition, Richard Lindsay of Recreation Sport & Leisure Consultancy was made a Recreation Aotearoa Fellow. 

Delich has been a recreation leader for decades, contributing to the parks, aquatics, and community recreation sectors. His career has spanned across local council, including Wellington City Council and Kāpiti Coast District Council, and government departments like Sport New Zealand. Delich has been a mentor to many people in the industry and has always generously shared his knowledge and expertise, making him a worthy recipient of the Life Member Award.

The New Zealand Recreation Awards have been running for over 20 years and have become an important way for Recreation Aotearoa and the rest of New Zealand to celebrate the work and people within the various recreation fields.

Images (from top): Hutt City Council's Play in the Hutt project, the Murihiku Matariki Festival (credit: D Whelan), Trust House Recreation Centre, Nigel Skelt and Elise Yule.