Hon Trevor Mallard
Minister of Sport, Fitness and Leisure
December 2001
PRIME MINISTER'S SPORTS SCHOLARSHIPS
The most rewarding part of being the Minister of Sports Fitness
and Leisure is that I meet, and hear about so many outstanding young people.
Take Nick Willis for example. Nick hits the pavement daily as part of
his athletics training. His shoes know a lot of mileage and most weeks
he clocks up over 80km. He's training in an effort to break his personal
best time and qualify for the next commonwealth games. At 19, Nick's the
national athletics champion for his age group in the 1500m and 800m, studying
for a degree, designing his own website and out on his own amongst a flat
of sports-mad teenagers.
Then there's Keisha-Dean Soffe. She awakes at 5am every morning to a
"very very loud alarm clock" and travels across town for a session
of lifting huge weights into the air, trying hard not to leave holes in
the ground when she leaves. At 19, Keisha-Dean is ranked New Zealand's
top woman weightlifter and will soon represent our country at the commonwealth
games. She travels miles out of town to train twice a day while also studying
for a national certificate in sports management. Keisha-Dean wanted to
be a Silver Fern when she was at High School - luckily for the future
of our elite sports she was keen to try something a bit different.
Both of these young people have the ability to juggle a busy lifestyle,
study and ambition to succeed in their chosen sport. They have been awarded
with Prime Minister's Sports Scholarships, along with hundreds of other
young athletes. This recognises their success and also gives them a helping
hand.
Some people like to say that today's young people are not hard enough
to go the whole way in sport and become champions. They say young people
have gone soft, and they blame everything from PlayStation to Fair Play
campaigns.
I wish they could meet some of the young people I've met in my role as
Minister of Sports Fitness and Leisure. Young people who've gone through
many hours of hard work and long hours of training. They've succeeded
through courage and a positive spirit. Many have been fortunate to have
great coaches and huge support from home and school. They have never seemed
soft to me - they sound like future champions. I think we are on the verge
of a new era for sport in New Zealand.
This Government is putting together a new structure that is going to
focus on the development needs of outstanding young athletes like Nick
and Keisha-Dean. There is a Knowledge Wave running through our education
system, and now there is a Sports Wave as well.
Firstly, there is the Academy of Sport, where carded athletes can receive
a host of support services based on their particular sporting needs. Then
there are the new Prime Minister's Scholarships as I mentioned earlier.
These Scholarships recognise the importance of education and sport. They
enable young athletes to have their education fees met in full, which
takes a lot of pressure off them so they can focus on their sport. Last
year 289 athletes received support from the scholarships scheme. This
year this number will be closer to 500.
As well as help with fees, athletes are also entitled to an allowance
if studying more than part time. The allowances range from $6000 for a
level one carded athlete, to $1000 for a carded athlete on level four.
Athletes can get scholarships if they are either currently carded by their
national sport organisation and accessing services linked to the New Zealand
Academy of Sport or athletes from non-carded sports who are prioritised
by their national sport organisation.
Then there are the Prime Minister's Coaching Scholarships. We know that
behind a great athlete there's also a great coach. The Prime Minister
recently announced a new initiative to support our coaches. This will
be a key part of the sports scholarships programme. $1million has been
set-aside in the first year with the key intention of helping to develop
the national coaches of tomorrow.
There will be ten scholarships available at $50,000 and 50 scholarships
at $10,000. The level of support for the scholarships is substantial.
The scholarships are set at a high level to allow coaches to be able to
access the best possible development programmes.
These are features of a new system that gives young athletes - and their
coaches - a clear set of opportunities in top-level sport. As Minister
for sport I want every young champion to see a pathway forward to international
success. We are a small country, but if we get it right, our talented
young people will beat the world.
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